Believe Again
by Cyndi
Summary: (Sequel to I Still BelievelllThese Dreams) Believers, we're in real trouble this time. Void is back.....and she's after Otherworld!
1. Part One

Hey, me again with yet another adventure. Just got hit with some inspiration to write again so here I am. This might take a long time to finish because I'm involved in RP a lot and my moods for writing come and go. I'm also working on and off on a fic unrelated to the Believers series, but stars Piccolo nonetheless. That one I'm not telling you anything about till it's done. >3 

I know a lot of you out there disregard GT, but for this fic I'm not. Even if Toriyama didn't do it, it still came after Z, so it's canon to me. Like it, hate it, I don't care. My fics fit in between pieces of canon or they don't work at all. So here we go. Watch out for bad language and other stuff.   
  
  
  


Believe Again   
Part One   
  
I sat on the verge of hysterics as planet Earth exploded on my TV screen. All week I'd been dreading this moment. Sick to my heart, to my soul. My fingers were typing words into the AIM window I'd connected to, but I don't even remember half of what was said. I kept telling my online friend what I felt. Screaming silently in cyberspace. Crying as I clutched my Piccolo figurine, mumbling his name over and over again. Angry at Gohan and them on TV for only missing him for a moment and then celebrating in the next scene as if he wasn't even important anymore. They didn't sit down and talk about him, they didn't look for the rare photo, I never even heard them say his NAME. How the hell can Gohan miss Piccolo when he never went to talk to him much once he got married? I just wanted to punch his glasses off and stomp on them. 

Jen understood the pain I was in...and I was glad for that. She kept talking to me and talking to me and talking to me until my vision cleared enough for me to make sense again. Yes, Piccolo did die on his own terms, yes he had his dignity and yes he was still on his feet. But he still DIED! 

Episode forty of Dragonball GT had just ended. Being so upset sent my cramps into overdrive as if something inside me exploded too. Or maybe I just felt Piccolo die. 

Jen, God bless her, stayed with me while Ariel came on - the girl I RP with all the time. I brought the issue up with her too and she helped me laugh a bit. Jen asked me if I'd be okay before she left and I said yes. Then my comp screwed up while we said goodbye and I had to reboot. 

The screen flashed and crackled like it always does. I watched it in a daze while the WINDOWS cloudy scene came up, then the blue screen where Scandisk runs, then the blank one that precedes my galaxy desktop wallpaper. I saw rocks instead. A reddish-gold place getting darker by the second. Then the desktop came up with Piccolo's little "boot camp is about to begin" sound byte. 

I thought nothing of the image and went back to my roleplay with Ariel. Once I'm RPing I hate being interrupted. Hate having my thoughts intruded upon to the point of disrupting my flow. Anybody who knows me knows that. And I wanted to find out what was going to happen between our characters...so sue me if my priorities suck. 

$ 

All clocks in the house said something resembling two in the morning when I shut the computer off. Again I saw those subliminal-like images of darkness. What the hell....who cares, I didn't want to think of anything other than Piccolo. I did all my bedtime rituals, loaded up on painkillers and headed into the kitchen for some pecan cookies. 

My mom was still up. I asked her how she was doing. I don't know how many of you out there know this or not, but my mom is being treated for cancer. Her radiation burns itch and bother her. They got the cancer out of her body and are just doing radiation to make sure nothing got left behind. Earlier today she got weird bumps and the advice nurse said she should see a doctor, but it was too late to go tonight. Life sucks like that. 

"How're you doin', mommy?" I asked while I bit down on the cookie. 

Mom looked up from the crossword puzzle she was doing. "Okay, I guess. It hurts when I put pressure on it. I'm going to urgent care tomorrow morning to see what's going on." 

"What did that nurse tell you?" 

She shrugged one shoulder, "Might be an infection around the old incision site. Radiation messes up your immune system so you catch infections you'd never even think about. It could also be nothing." 

"Yeah well, if you leave before I wake up, leave a note telling what time you and dad left okay? I don't want to sit here thinking you had to be rushed to an emergency room somewhere." 

"Sure," Mom took her reading glasses off and stuffed them into their little green case. 

Green....I looked away. 

"They killed my favorite character off on my show tonight." I said sadly, picking at the half-eaten cookie in my hands. 

Mom stretched in her chair. "Piccolo, right?" 

"....yeah." 

"Well can't they use those balls to wish him back again like last time?" 

That made me smile, the way she said it was almost teasing, but showed interest too. "It was a different set. When they were used they dispersed over the whole universe and you have to get them back to the planet the wish was made on or it'll explode. Well, some ass used them again and the guys couldn't get them back in time. So Piccolo stayed to make sure they couldn't be used again. They were useless once he died...but it still sucks." 

"Mm." Mom's understanding ended there. I couldn't let her see how truly upset I was. Piccolo might be "a cartoon character" to a lot of people......but how many of them got to meet and love him? How many know what makes him laugh, what makes him cry, how to touch him and how to please him? How many of you felt your heart break when planet Earth exploded on your screen? 

I said good night and wandered off to change my pad and go to bed. 

$ 

The clock said three-fifteen. I know, I looked three times. Every second felt like hours. I'd watched the episode four times in a row on tape just to make sure it really happened. I've fought to save the world from oblivion and a life of nightmares. I've seen horrors that still leave me trembling and afraid at night. 

Nothing compared to seeing Piccolo die like that. Nothing. I couldn't even get to sleep so I could reach him in my dreams. It was three twenty now and I was still wide awake. As if I'd slept all night and been up for an hour. 

I gave up on sleep, put in an old DBZ tape and turned on the computer. Again I saw that weird scene flash by, but it was dark as if night had fallen. 

Wait! 

My eyes went to my TV screen. It was the episode where Goku had to compete against Goz and Mez to get out of Hell. The sky was a pinkish, goldish, reddish color, just as bright as a cloudy sky at noon. I don't remember it ever changing. It was like Namek, always daytime from what I'd seen. 

....oh shit. 

I shut the computer down. Same pictures. I shut my TV off, launched myself out of the computer chair and dove for my top dresser drawer. Guided by touch more than sight I dug through my underwear until my fingers closed around a stainless steel box. 

Before I could even lift the little box from the drawer, a soft _ching _noise sounded. Snap went my bedside lamp to send low light into my room. 

Who the hell painted Legolas from Lord of the Rings purple and gave him silver hair? And how did he get so tall? And what the heck was he doing in my room? 

"Kaibito?" I gawked at him. Dayum, in the Anime realm he's kinda plain to me, but here? Gorgeous! Especially those black-as-black-can-get eyes and pouty, almost effeminate lips. He appeared much younger than I thought he was...and I'd kill to have that kind of skin. 

"How'd you know where to find me?" I finally came back to myself. 

Kaibito nodded once. "I'm still a Kaioshin, I know pretty much everything that goes on between worlds. Including the battles you've been in." 

A hot coal lodged in my stomach. I turned my back to him and crossed my arms. It never occurred to me that I was talking to a highly revered deity when I said, "If you're so great then why couldn't you save Piccolo? You can go anywhere, you could've gotten those stupid black star dragonballs back to Earth in no time flat." 

"I - " He sighed deeply, his voice flat, "I sense people, not dragonballs." brief pause, "Piccolo doesn't want to be wished back because if he lives, so will the black star balls. I'm sorry. He made his choice." 

I put a hand over my face and squeezed my eyes shut. A sob still got out despite my efforts to stop it. God, I was being such a baby, but I couldn't help it. I wasn't like the others on TV....I wasn't going to just watch someone I love die, shrug and go on with life. Especially not when he died to save the world! 

Kaibito's large hand came to rest on my bare shoulder right next to the strap of my halter top. His skin was as soft and warm as a baby's against mine. "I'm really sorry...listen." He knelt to make our heights more equal and placed his other hand on my other shoulder. "Piccolo needs your help again. Void has come back and she's after all of Otherworld. I can feel her evil...she's gotten stronger. And if she destroys Otherworld, she'll destroy the living world as well, because there won't be any souls waiting to be born or reborn. The souls of those who die will have nowhere to go and evaporate. The universe, all of it, will gradually die." 

The hot coal in my stomach doubled its size. "When will that stupid freak learn?" 

He shook his head and stood up. "There's no way to destroy her utterly, I'm afraid. Every time the balance between our dimensions tips in favor of evil, she gains enough power to take form. I can look into your world as easily as Chikyuu, and from the looks of all the wars going on in the country you call Iraq, I can see where she's getting her energy." 

A growl escaped my throat. "Why don't you just ask Goku to save the universe? Isn't he the big hero who takes over the show?" I know, I know, I was being a brat....but at the moment I hated everybody. Tired of being run to like I knew all the answers every time. I didn't. I didn't beat Void - YOU did. I just took stupid chances when all I had left was to gamble with life and death. I'm tired of the game. Why can't Piccolo and I just live happily ever after with the ability to talk about anything, a great sex life, a couple of gorgeous kids and enough money to keep us comfortable until we're too old to wipe our own butts? 

"Because," Kaibito's hands moved off my shoulders, "he has his own destiny to play out." 

I deflated and looked at the little silver box in my palm. "I kept everything I need in a capsule just in case...so I don't need to pack anything." I took the small object out. "What about the Necklace? Will I need it?" 

"It would be dangerous. Having one of those in the living world and the other in Otherworld would cause a dimensional overload that could strengthen Void even more. Either I fuse it with you so your power keeps it under control or...you'll have to leave it." 

"Which is safer?" 

"Fusing it." 

I took a deep breath. My heart hammered in my ears. I didn't know if this would hurt or not. "Then fuse it. I don't want to take chances." 

"Very well then." Kaibito lifted the little orange bauble from the box. He twisted it free from the ornamental gold dragon's paw and held it in his palm. "Once I do this you'll be able to pass between dimensions and change forms at will. Just approach a mirror with at least three feet of clearance and step in. All you need to do is will it to the surface to open the portals." 

"Wait, change my form?" 

"Between human and your other one." 

"But I'm only a Saiyajin in the Anime world because my body adjusted itself to fit the reality. Same reason Piccolo became slightly human when he came here. I can't change in this world, people would freak!" 

Kaibito chuckled, "True, but you'll be stronger. It'll also make passing through dimensions less stressful on your body." 

"Great, how will I know what to do?" 

"Trust yourself." He met my eyes. "This will feel hot, but it won't hurt." 

The little bauble in Kaibito's hand glowed like brilliant fire. All fourteen stars flashed in sequence from outermost to innermost. Then it rose off his palm and floated towards my chest. I felt intense heat and pressure as it came in contact with the skin just below my collarbones. Something like getting a suppository inserted into my breastbone - my chest literally sucked this golfball sized thing in! It sank into bone and...eeew, it _sloshed_. I saw the outline of my beating heart and ribs just before the light faded. The sensations vanished. I felt no different than I had before it went in, save for a slight heartburn sensation. Heh. I looked down and found no marks, no bumps, no sign of anything. 

"That...was....gross..." I rubbed the spot where the miniature dragonball went in, "Idiot time...what exactly do I do?" 

Kaibito was ready for my questions. His lips drew up in a calm smile, black eyes twinkling. "Face the mirror - good. Now just call it out. It'll listen." 

I must've stared at the mirror for the longest time. It's not easy to concentrate with a mind like mine, I kept thinking about other things. But finally I started to feel heat in the same place the dragonball entered me. In the mirror I watched little points of light rise up under my skin and coagulate into an orange orb. There was this weird stretchy sensation as it pushed itself out. I felt no pain...it was more of a pulling sensation. Take the skin under your chin between two fingers and pull gently forward, it's something like that. 

My reflection instantly became a colored mass of ripples. I lost my focus when I glimpsed the Lookout kitchen. Too many memories. The bauble sucked itself back in and the mirror instantly went flat. One thing Kaibito forgot to mention was it drew on my energy to bring that thing out. I couldn't hold a portal open for long. 

Kaibito grabbed my arm. His eyebrows drew together, wrinkling his smooth forehead. "You should wait to try and change form at will. Your body needs to adjust. Don't push yourself, I need to take you to Otherworld and you can't reach that through normal means. Instant Transmission is the only way." 

Of course! I grabbed the front of Kaibito's red jerkin, discovering it was made of something similar to stretchy velvet "Can you take me to Piccolo?!" 

He touched his forehead with two fingers and concentrated. Eyes looking around towards invisible powers, singling them out until he seemed to find what he sought. "He's still in line to be judged." He smiled, "You'll like this....he still has his body." 

I would've cheered if everybody else wasn't asleep. Even if Piccolo turned into a puffy little cloud, I'd still love him... 

"Hold on, here we go." 

_Ching!_

Fastest change of scenery I've ever witnessed. I just blinked and there I was in the colorful check-in station, surrounded by wispy clouds arranged in long lines. The line stretched out around a curving path that vanished around a corner. Up ahead was the most immense desk I'd ever seen. Big as a house! And sitting behind it was an equally massive being with a beard. The great Enma Daiou. Somehow he reminded me of my dad because he looked so stressed out. 

I wagged my tail - yes I'd changed the instant we appeared - and looked around. "I thought you were taking me right to Piccolo, Kaibito." Boy am I a whiny thing or what? 

"Patience, you'll see him once he's - " 

"Ahh, Piccolo. Again. Plan on staying this time?" Enma Daiou's booming voice shot clear across the waiting area, drowning out Piccolo's response. He pulled out a massive, and I mean a MASSIVE, ten-foot-tall manila folder. Piccolo's entire history lay between two flimsy pieces of cardboard. It shook the desk when Enma dropped it. "Ah, you died saving the Earth this time. Heh, looks like that boy changed you for keeps. Heaven it is." A thump as he stamped the file with a giant rubber stamp. 

Piccolo turned away with a snap of his majestic white cape. He looked no different than the last time I saw him except that a little gold halo floated above his head. One of the helper people off to the side called him over and stamped the back of his hand...hehe, just like at Disneyland. 

My throat welled up. He was okay... "Piccolo!" 

Piccolo stopped in mid-step. I saw his head whip around to peer at me. One eye grew twice as big as the other and his mouth formed a perfect "O". The look of utter befuddlement on his face almost cracked me up. I shoved Kaibito out of my way, burst through a crowd of "cloud-people"(they squawked angrily at me) and dove at Piccolo so fast he had to catch me like a football. He stumbled back a few steps and fell square on his butt with me sprawled out in his lap. 

I turned over and brushed my hair out of my face, smiling, "Hi." 

The confusion melted to blatant amusement - that little twitch of a smile and slight tilt to his eyes. "Hey, kid....how'd you get here?" 

"Ahem..." Kaibito walked over, dusting himself off. His hair was all messed up and his clothes were dirty. "She had a little help. And by the way, Cyndi, you're welcome." 

.....I felt so dumb. I just knocked over this universe's highest deity! "Sorry..." My face burned. 

Kaibito shot me a withering glance and moved his gaze up to Piccolo's eyes. "Are you aware of what's going on down in Hell?" 

Piccolo's expression became extremely serious. "I sensed a disturbance the second I arrived here. It took this one," he jostled my shoulder almost affectionately, "long enough to pick up the message. I was going to send Dende to get her, but it looks like you beat me to the punch." 

The stupid cramps came back. They made me feel a bit queasy. I rested my ear against Piccolo's chest and let the deep bass vibration of his voice rumble through my skull. He had no heartbeat and only took a breath to speak. It was odd, disconcerting....I could always listen to his heartbeat and feel like everything would be okay. Now that sound was absent. His dusty desert scent swirled around me. My eyes raised to his face, it was still just as gorgeous as I remember. The only thing in Anime realm that you don't see on TV is their mouths match exactly what they say instead of simply moving open and shut. 

I lowered my eyes to the stamp on Piccolo's hand. Inside a red circle was the "letter" _ten_, the Japanese symbol for Heaven. 

"...that's really rough." Piccolo was saying. I'd completely tuned out their conversation until just then. He looked down at me. "Cyndi..." he lifted me by the armpits and sat me down beside him. "You can't fight this battle as you are. Your body can't take it the kind of energy you need." 

"What?" I looked from Piccolo to Kaibito. "What do I have to do?" 

"Cyndi," Piccolo's expression turned grave. "you have to die." 


	2. Part Two

Self insertion, language and possible violence warning. Please excuse my use of the $ as a spacer...stupid old ff.net won't save my double spacing anymore. 

Shameless plug: See my pitiful attempts at Namek art over at cyndilovespiccolo.deviantart.com :P   
  
  


Believe Again   
Part Two   
  
I wasn't hearing this. Piccolo didn't just say what I thought he said, did he? Me? Die? But I don't belong in this world! What if he kills me and I go to MY Heaven instead of the one he's going to? I looked from Piccolo to Kaibito and back, my eyes wide with terror. "Um...." 

"Relax, kid, you'll keep your body. Once it's over, Kaibito will go tell Dende to gather the dragonballs and wish you back to life so you can return home." Piccolo squeezed my shoulder and met my eyes, "But you can't go back into your reality until this is over. Time may get warped in this one and a year could go by before you get back in. You know the limit for wishing lives back, right?" 

My throat clutched, "Yeah..." 

Kaibito leaned over, "Don't worry, Cyndi. You're going to be okay. If all else fails I can easily trade my life for yours just like the old Kaioshin did for Goku." 

I glanced up at his purple face. It was hard not to look at him and giggle....for some reason he reminded me a little of The Count from Sesame Street! "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." 

Piccolo placed a slender hand on my chest. His hands are so big just one could cover it almost completely. "I'm going to stop your heart. On three, okay?" 

I grabbed Piccolo's ears and yanked him down for a kiss. Man, I missed kissing his lips, they're so boyish compared to the rest of his face...and it was worth seeing him turn completely purple. I winked at him when he glared. "Just in case...big guy, just in case." And then I said a very quiet Hail Mary....just in case. Wow, I'm getting redundant aren't I? 

Piccolo rolled his eyes. "One." 

His hand turned blazing hot. I tried to squirm away from it, but he held me still with his other arm. Did I ever mention his arms are almost as big around as my body when he flexes? 

"Two." 

I clutched his shirt tighter. My wild Saiyajin hair and the hairs on my arms started to stand up even more than usual from the electrostatic energy building up in his palm. Piccolo was going to use his ki like a reverse defibrillator. Just a simple shock to interrupt my heartbeat. 

A simple shock...yeah right! 

"Three!" 

Lightning struck my breastbone. I wondered if the discharge blew the top of my head right off. I couldn't breathe and a frightening coldness came to my skin. You know, that icky feeling you get when you have food poisoning and it feels like you're crapping your guts out...ew. I wanted to faint. How was I still alive without a heartbeat? Oh, right...Saiyajin...I'm so sleepy.... 

Piccolo drew me gently to his chest. I took a long, deep breath full of his dusty desert scent, closed my eyes and — 

$ 

The chatter of distant voices reached me first. Then the softness of somebody's shirt and light against my eyelids that turned darkness to deep blood red. I noticed immediately that I couldn't feel my own heart beating in my chest. I used to be able to count my heartbeats without feeling my pulse. I also realized I wasn't breathing. I literally was not taking breaths...and there was no panic. No burning in my chest, no desire to gasp, no feeling dizzy. I mean, I COULD breathe if I wanted to, but I didn't NEED to. 

And the best advantage of all? _NO CRAMPS!_ Hallelujah! 

"Welcome to the land of the not-so-living." Piccolo's lips quirked at his own humor. His hand was resting flat against my back, which was bare because my shirt was practically backless. My dad would kill me if he knew I was wearing it in public. Oh wait, he can't, I'm already dead! Ha, ha, ha! 

...Since when did Piccolo learn to make puns? I giggled and rested my head on his chest, snuggling him. My head fit perfectly up under his chin. "This's weird. I never thought being dead felt so...not so different from being alive." As I said this, I reached up and poked for the halo above my head. Yup, it was there. 

"It has its advantages," Piccolo said quietly. I can't believe how much I missed his soft bass rasp. "As long as your body isn't completely incinerated, you'll still exist. So you can get impaled, break all your bones and slit your wrists to your heart's content and nothing bad will happen. You'll just be in a lot of pain while your body heals itself at an accelerated rate." One shoulder shrugged. "There are worse things, I guess." He smirked, "But the advantage of death is you can realize powers your living body could never handle. And I want to see you go beyond a Super Saiyajin." 

"IF I can get beyond." I twisted his words at him. Then, picking my head up, I took my first look around at the Anime version of Heaven. 

Everything sparkled as if covered in dew. There were flowers, trees and lakes everywhere. The sky was a pinkish-blue with cotton candy clouds drifting here and there. I enjoyed the comfortable air temperature - nice both in the shade and in the "sun". A few white buildings dotted the landscape with people of all shapes and sizes going in and out. I even spotted a little amusement park off in the distance. 

Then I noticed something else. Everybody had a body. There weren't any little "cloud people" floating around. 

"This isn't Heaven...we're on the Dai Kaio's planet! How'd we end up here?" 

Piccolo allowed himself a chuckle that I felt more than heard, "You do your homework. We're here because we kept our bodies, everybody sent to Heaven with a body ends up here. So technically this is more like a 'warrior's Heaven'." 

"Oh, they didn't explain that on the show." Again, I surveyed my sparkly surroundings. "Where'd Kaibito go?" 

"He had to return to the Kaioshin planet. We're on our own from now on." 

I snorted, "Oh, that's nice, he can fight Buu, but he can't help us fight Void?" Suddenly I felt angry at Piccolo too....angry at him for choosing to die rather than find some other way to destroy the black star dragonballs. "Do you have any idea how much I cried when I saw you die on TV? I felt it..." 

"I didn't have time to warn you. I was unconscious for so long after Gohan blasted me. I'd been infected with a Bebi seed and it took me that long to expel it without assistance. I was just about to let myself go when that kid with the dog showed up. I could've done without all the sappy goodbyes, though." Piccolo's face showed the briefest hint of melancholy, "Feh, they probably won't even miss me, so it's no big loss." 

"My ass it's not!" My face twitched at that, but I didn't tell him anything about what I saw after he died. "It doesn't matter now," I sat up on my knees and hugged him tight, kissing his cheek. "I know you're okay...I was scared I'd never be able to see you again and you know we can't have that." 

This time Piccolo did smile his wonderful smile at me, "A little thing like death won't mess up much, kid." The smile disappeared as fast as it appeared. "This's going to be a tough fight. It's just you, myself and the Believers out there...no help from Freeza or Vegeta this time." 

That wasn't enough physical power, we needed more than just the two of us or we'd be overpowered in a few seconds - especially if Void decides to show up in her hideous second form. My mind flipped through a mental list of the strongest fighters I knew of around here. A sudden idea slashed across my brain. "We're on the Dai Kaio's planet right?" 

"Yeah..." Piccolo stared into my eyes. He lifted a brow when I flashed a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. "What are you planning?" 

My stomach practically turned over with exhilaration. I just love it when I can one-up Piccolo with ideas. "I know about somebody that might be able to help us...I think you'll really like him. I'll go find him and bring him here, okay?" 

Piccolo's lip twitched as he assumed the lotus position and closed his eyes. "Fine, I'll wait right here." 

I stayed one more moment to study his face. The curves of his closed eyes and the pull on his lips. He hadn't aged a single drop since we last saw each other....a few months my time, a few years for him. I guess some part of me worried the next time I saw him he'd be all old and wrinkled. 

Looks like I won't have to worry about that anymore. Piccolo will always be beautiful now. 

I blew him a kiss and took off without a clue where to go. 

$ 

An hour of hunting around left me wishing I'd asked Piccolo to come with me. Asking around didn't help much because the guy I was looking for wasn't in any of the places people said he'd be. I finally landed next to a giant white building and stomped with frustration, kicking up a cloud of dust into the bushes. _Dammit...you'd think when you die the universe's knowledge would open up to you or something. Heh, I guess that only happens on my side_. 

A little flash of white shone near the building on my left. My eyes turned. There stood a warrior wearing brown boots and a darker brown belt, fitted white pants with a matching ankle-length robe, blue long-sleeve shirt and a really tall, weird oval-shaped hat of some sort. He had green skin a little darker than Piccolo's. Full pinkish-tan lips.....no nose at all...Namek-like brow ridges and dark red eyes with darker pupils. Extremely slender and TALL, his build reminded me a little of a very mysterious roleplay character I've only had the pleasure of meeting a few times in AIM. 

He once battled Goku in the Otherworld tournament - can't remember the Japanese name for it at the moment, but I know it starts with an A - and I recall the fight ended in a draw because they both touched the ceiling. 

I don't care what anybody says, if you can fight Goku to a draw, you're fricken strong....if anybody could help Piccolo and I fight Void, it was this guy. 

"Paikuhan!" I shouted his name and burst out of the bushes. 

Paikuhan stopped walking and jerked his head around. The little tassels on the back of his hat flared as if alive. "Huh?" 

If I'd been alive, my heart would've been pounding and I'd be panting for breath. Being dead saves the time, I didn't have to gasp until I could talk. After I introduced myself, I went on to say, "Hey um...I know you don't know me and the reason I know you is a really long story. But a...friend of mine and I need your help. I'll tell you all about it on the way, okay?" 

The tall warrior looked skeptical, eyeing me with one eye squinted. I don't blame him...I'd look at me as a crazy person too if I came bursting out of the bushes like that. 

He sighed like he had better things to be doing and his smooth baritone voice rumbled, "Very well." 

We took off together, and while we flew, I told him what was going on. I think Paikuhan heard of Void before, because the moment I mentioned her name and described her, his face almost turned white. 

"You have my attention now." Paikuhan's brow ridges lowered to shadow his red eyes in an expression I can only describe as discontent. The corners of his mouth tightened. Despite this, he still sounded perfectly calm. "Tell me everything you know." 

"Okay." I wiped a strand of wild hair out of my eyes. "It starts like this..." 

$ 

Piccolo stood up when I came in for a landing with Paikuhan right behind me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't snicker to myself, I always wanted to see those two share the same breathing space. And it turns out that if Paikuhan took off his hat thingie, he and Piccolo were exactly the same height. Their builds were very opposite...it really was interesting to see them together. Paikuhan all slender and and Piccolo all buff. 

"Piccolo, this is Paikuhan. Paikuhan, this's Piccolo." I introduced them, then stepped out of the way so they could greet each other. 

"Ah, yes, I remember Goku mentioned you once. Ages ago." Paikuhan executed a graceful bow and smiled, "Honored to meet you, Piccolo." 

Piccolo nodded once, straight-faced. He never was much for honorifics. "Pleasure's mine, Paikuhan." 

They were quiet for a second, just eyeing each other. Each sizing the other up. Finally they both smirked and relaxed, easing into a conversation. I kind of stood in the background like I tend to do while Paikuhan asked Piccolo questions about the story I told him. Piccolo remembers things better than I do, he was able to fill in my blanks. I'm glad for that. 

I'd just about tuned everything else out when I heard Piccolo's voice speak up a little louder. "Looks like we'll both have to train her." His eyes bore into mine, almost daring me to let my attention wander again. Then he looked over at Paikuhan. "You know more than we do. Tell us what you know." 

I perked up to full attention. 

"Void has existed since the beginning of time as this universe knows it..." Paikuhan glanced at me, "when the first drop of ink formed on a page, that was our moment of creation." 

That made my mind envision Akira Toriyama's pen dripping ink on a page. Stars and galaxies forming as he drew. It made me smile. 

Paikuhan plucked a leaf from a nearby bush and narrowed his eyes at it. His expression looked very grave. Kind of easy to pick up since I was used to reading Piccolo's more subtle facial movements. "Void is anti-creation. On my planet, Emak, we call her _Kukan_, but I'll call her Void around you to avoid confusion." He let the leaf fall from his fingertips. It drifted to land between his feet, trailing sparkles in its wake. "I learned a lot about her during my time in the monestary...and after." 

I blinked. "Oh, you're a priest?" 

"Monk." Paikuhan corrected me, glancing my way. "Many of us were trained exactly the same way - to use our powers only when it is necessary to preserve peace. We believed that getting angry would attract Void, so we learned to distance ourselves from our anger. I still feel anger from time to time, but I have little desire to act upon that feeling. My power comes from need, not rage." 

Piccolo remained utterly still. I forced my attention to stay focused on Paikuhan...and for me that's not easy. While he talked, I wrote his every word on paper. 

Paikuhan went on, "We used to believe that a lack of inspiration for art or writing was due to Void stealing the thoughts and ideas from our very minds to prevent us from creating. When people lost faith in the gods, we thought it was Void driving a wedge between us and Heaven. Her power comes from negativity, I know, I've seen it. When she first took form on my planet, I was chosen to fight her because I was the strongest. Like you, I called on the belief of all my people. Void destroyed me just as I was sending her back to whatever black hole she came from. It's been several hundred years since then...I never thought she could return. I'm amazed you warriors fought her _twice_ and survived." 

"We have our own set of Believers, Paikuhan." I giggled, "And thanks to a little something called the World Wide Web, anybody that wants to Believe just has to click a button and read it. I bet there's somebody reading this right now." 

"Your people must have a highly advanced technology if everyone can see this." Paikuhan's lips curled into a smile. He looked pretty friendly when he smiled like that. 

"Eh, not really. We just have TV's, computers and way too many cell phones. You really can't go anywhere to be out of contact anymore unless you leave your phone in the car or something." 

I think I lost him, he just gave me a blank look...I keep forgetting his planet probably didn't use a lot of technology, kinda like Namek. I'll have to ask him later. 

"Um...nevermind, too much to explain." I brushed my crazy hair back again. Note to self in the future: never go on an adventure without trimmed bangs. "So, what do we do now?" I asked as I un-Capsuled my belongings and hunted through them for the little pair of scissors I always carry. When I found them I trimmed my bangs just enough that they'd be out of my eyes. A rough job, not that you'd notice with how crazy my hair was already, but it was better than having bangs hang in my face. 

"Before we do anything with you," Piccolo's dark eyes went from me to Paikuhan, "I want to see how strong this guy is." He smirked. "Feel up to a little spar, Paikuhan?" 

Paikuhan slapped his fist against his palm, cracking his knuckles. He turned to Piccolo with an almost wicked smirk. His eyes twinkled as he replied in a low tone, "I was hoping you'd ask." 

My eyes almost bugged out of my head. I was about to be treated to a live performance of a spar.....I've seen fights, but never just a spar. At least not one that I wasn't involved in. This was gonna be so cool. 

I should've packed popcorn. Oh well, I settled for a bag of M&M's instead and sat down to watch the show. 


	3. Part Three

Self insertion, language and violence warning. I'm going to use the dub names for Paikuhan's signature attacks. Sorry if some people hate that, but I searched every end of the damned internet looking for the Japanese names for them and NOT ONE FREAKING PAGE has the info I'm looking for. They all have the same stupid list in different colors or fonts like they all copy each other. So if you don't like me using English names for some of the attacks, bite me, I WASTED A WHOLE DAY TRYING TO FIND THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE NAMES AND COULD NOT FIND THEM. Besides, people might recognize Paikuhan's attacks in English better anyway, so that settles that. 

I also don't know that much about Paikuhan. I'm pulling a lot of stuff out of my ear to make up for his lack of a past on the show. I hope it's believable!   
  
  


Believe Again   
Part Three   
  
Piccolo and Paikuhan parted to assume their respective fighting stances. I noticed they never broke eye-contact, a tactic I had yet to master. During the fights with Void I never met her eyes directly. Whiplash from looking up is no excuse either. It's just....I don't know....I feel like if I look into people's eyes for too long they can see all of me and I don't like that. I'm mostly a private person. I like space when I want it and I'll be affectionate when I feel like it. 

Like Piccolo - he understands that. He understands _me_. He's probably the only person whose eyes I can stare into and not worry about being judged. 

Ka-SMACK! 

Paikuhan and Piccolo began their spar. They started slow. I easily followed their movements. They matched each other blow for blow. Conventional fighting with a few fantastic roundhouses or whirling chops. Then the lights flashed and little breeze blew through. The ground shook. I sensed a buildup of ki. Piccolo and Paikuhan became less distinct as their movements quickened. I'd gotten so good at following ki fights that I watched without thinking about it. Letting my eyes lose focus so I saw their energy....my brain filling in where their bodies should be. 

Together they were so graceful that it appeared more like a dance than a spar. Kinda reminded me of the cool fight scenes in the Matrix movies. Same quick, almost mechanical movements and everything. Much better than on TV because they weren't limited by a person's drawing abilities. They looked Anime, but they moved as if Real....it's hard to explain...but beautiful to watch. I wish I'd thought to bring a CD full of techno music, it would've made it so much cooler. 

They kept at it. On and on, faster and faster, I barely followed their motions. I watched them spring apart, land and size each other up once again. 

And then... 

Paikuhan lifted one arm, then the other, performing a few graceful movements that ended in a dance-like dip. As if scooping energy right from the air. "THUNDER," His ki rose like steam trapped under a closed lid. "FLASH....." He slapped his fists together and tore the cover right off his power, "AAAATTAAAAAACK!" A huge, swirling wave of jagged fire blasted off his extended fists. 

A second later I saw Piccolo raise two fingers to his brow. Blue lightning arched across his hand. A spark formed. He aimed, "_MAKANKOSAPPO!_" and sent his signature spiraling beam blazing towards Paikuhan's energy wave. 

The two blasts met in the middle. Paikuhan's all wide and wild, Piccolo's all thin and concentrated. Piccolo with two fingers extended, face drawn in a snarl. Paikuhan with both fists held forward, eyes squinted in the light. Both locked in fierce concentration. Both with their clothes swishing in the violent air. Both determined not to fall. It got so bright I could barely stand to keep looking. 

Hurricane winds howled across the sparkly grass. Earthquakes rumbled. People scattered. A shockwave uprooted me from my perch in the grass. I scrambled in mid air to catch my bag of M&Ms and dove behind a bush. Wouldn't you know it, the bag spilled all over me! I had M&Ms in my hair and all over the ground around me. I grumbled to myself and started picking up and eating them. Not like there's germs that'll kill me anymore anyway...but that doesn't mean I'd eat anything that landed in poo. I have SOME dignity! 

Don't ask me what happened next, I can't explain it....but I'll try. 

When I peeked out of the bush I saw the two energy beams _go through_ each other. Either Piccolo's blast drilled through or Paikuhan's flooded around. Not sure which. But whatever happened their ki attacks overtook each other and hit their targets. It created a huge explosion. Both green men cartwheeled backwards, landing in heaps on the grass. A loud howl sounded as displaced air rushed back into the vacuum created by the intense energy. 

I have to train against THAT?! 

........boy am I glad I'm already dead. 

"It looks as if we'll learn a lot from each other." Paikuhan rose first, dusting off. He adjusted his hat and straightened his clothes. His face once again amiable. 

Piccolo stood without bothering to brush himself off. I watched his lips curl into a smirk that crinkled one eye. He only does that when he likes what he sees....I knew then that he and Paikuhan would get along great. "You're definitely the help we needed in this." his eyes moved to me, twinkling. "Nice going, kid. I'm proud of you." 

My face turned hot. Never knew dead people could blush! I climbed from the bushes and walked over between them. "Aw, it was nothing really." 

Paikuhan leaned over to inspect my hair. He reached down and I kinda winced, thinking he was going to pat my head; I hate it when people do that to me. Instead of patting me, he plucked a bright red M&M from my hair. Turned it over once in his hand, shrugged and put it in his mouth. He chewed once, twice, three times...then his face lit up. "I haven't tasted chocolate in centuries." 

I blinked, chocolate existed on more places than Earth? "They have it where you come from?" 

He chuckled, "Of course, I'm surprised my planet isn't the only one that made it. Ours is much sweeter than this though, but they taste almost the same." 

I pulled out another bag of M&Ms. Had a TON leftover from last Halloween because my mom overbought. "Here, knock yourself out." 

"Thank you." Paikuhan held his hand palm up to accept the bag when I handed it to him. He tore it open and munched the M&Ms down slowly, one at a time. Totally opposite me, I eat 'em by the handful. 

While I was at it, I pulled out another bag and tossed it at Piccolo. "Might as well share with everybody." 

Piccolo palmed it effortlessly. He scowled a little, "Thanks, but no thanks." and tossed it back. 

I wasn't quick enough and the bag landed in my lap. I dumped it into my backpack and popped it back into its Capsule. "Why don't we take a peek down in Hell and see what's going on? Might as well look at what we're up against." 

"Not a good idea." Piccolo cut me off, "I don't think Void knows you're here. If she sees any of us she'll know we're coming for her. That could prove detrimental to our training." He glanced down at me before I could cut in. "Hey, we'll get her, Cyndi. We just can't risk her following us back and destroying us before we're ready to fight. We need a place like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber..." 

"Yeah! It'd be nice if we could do a year's worth of training in like a minute or something. You know, we go in, train for a year and in the meantime only a minute goes by outside. Yeah right though, right?" 

"Actually...there is a room like that here," Paikuhan lowered the M&Ms bag, looking at us. "The Quantum Room...you can adjust time as you see fit in there. A year, a decade, a human lifetime, anything you want. Each year inside takes up approximately minute outside, so it's not a good idea to get carried away. People have been known to go insane when they stay inside too long." 

Adjust the time? I could spend ten years with Piccolo and only miss ten minutes of real time! I....I could have that lifetime with him. There was so much we could have. 

Then Piccolo burst the bubble, "But what are its limits?" 

"None. Just the risk of falling into madness. Once you lose your mind, you lose your body too. You just become another ghost wandering around, lost forever." 

Damn, that put a damper on my fun. 

"I think we can take it." Piccolo said with confidence. "Cyndi." 

"Yeah?" 

"We're going in until you can go up to three." 

Paikuhan arched a brow. "That could take a long time..." 

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa," I put both hands up in a defensive posture. "Hold on one minute here! You're asking me to go Super Saiyajin THREE?! What about two? I can barely go up to one! How do you expect me to get that strong? I'm not Goku! I just pull miracles out of my ass and get lucky!" 

"There's no way of knowing how strong Void is this time. You're a Saiyajin here, your power won't plateau, it keeps growing the more you train. So even if Paikuhan and I can't overpower Void, maybe you can. You're our wildcard, kid. You and the Believers you bring along for the ride." 

A frustration bubble formed in my stomach. I stomped my foot hard. "But I'm no heroine!" My throat clenched around an invisible hot potato that made my voice crack. "In the end it's always the Believers that win, not me! I'm tired of you looking at me like I'm someone you can rely on, because I'm not! I'll just mess it up! It's too much!" 

"Cyn - " 

"NO!" 

I fled the clearing so they wouldn't see me cry. God, I was being such a baby...but I still felt like everybody cried to me when Void showed up. I might've HELPED stop her before, but what about next time? And next time? And the next time after that? Too much....too much, I'm tired of it! 

I felt like all my guts were swollen twice their size when I landed near a dozen large trees. They wove around each other so tightly they formed a nice little natural teepee for me to hide in. 

The whole universe frightened me. Nothing was safe anymore. Void's always out there, you know. She's with you when you get mad, when you hurt someone, when you're sad and when you're scared. 

She'd gripped my heart in a tangle of fear. I opened the Capsule with all my stuff in it and pulled out my discman. Turning on music is my favorite form of self-comfort when I'm upset. I curled up in a little ball and cried my eyes out while the chords of my Daredevil soundtrack played in my ears. 

I'm not a hero, heroine, whatever....I never was. I'm just a little girl in a woman's body that happened to be caught in the middle. 

$ 

Hours seemed to go by. I knew it wasn't really hours because the album hadn't gone all the way through yet. I've always had the worst time-perception skills around. But anyway, a lot of time crawled by before I saw Piccolo's brown shoes and baggy purple pants appear nearby. It only seemed fitting that he appeared right as the song _My Immortal_ by Evanescence started playing on the discman. I just sat there and listened to the song, watching Piccolo move about. No need to draw his attention just yet...I wanted to listen to the song and think about how it applied to...us. 

"W_hen you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears_   
_when you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears_   
_I held your hand through all of these years_   
_but you still have_   
_all of me..._" 

I love that line. I don't care if it's corny or cliché, I love it. 

Piccolo's feet walked past my little hideout twice. I wasn't hiding my power so I know he sensed I was close. 

I watched Piccolo's feet walk further away, turn around, come back and face away yet again. Suddenly the feet about-faced. I saw Piccolo's cape flare a bit as he knelt down to peer into my little hidey-hole. The frown I expected appeared instead as two brow ridges pressed tight together in the middle. Not mad at all. Just worried. I still couldn't meet his eyes. 

The song ended, so I shut the discman off and removed the headphones. My gaze stayed in my lap. 

Piccolo rumbled softly, "Are you going to come out, or do I have to come in?" 

I scooted back to give him room. The tiny space was comfortable to me, I had enough room to sit up straight without a problem, Piccolo would just _barely_ fit. 

A low, wordless murmur. Piccolo's face came closer as he wormed his way into my little cubbyhole and plopped into the lotus position across from me.. He fit fine...as long as he didn't try to jump up anytime soon. The top of his turban was pressed against the 'ceiling'. 

"I understand that you're scared, Cyndi...you'd be insane if you weren't." Piccolo's tone stayed even and calm. "If it helps any, I'm a little scared myself." 

I snorted, "Yeah right, nothing scares you except small spaces without any openings." 

"You'd be surprised." A serious reply. Not scoffed or said with sarcasm. 

"Mmhmm...sure..." I tend to get cynical when I'm in a bad mood. 

Piccolo reached over and lifted my chin with his index finger. Again, he wasn't angry, his face was its usual stoic mask, save for his eyes shining a bit in the low light. "When I woke up after Bebi Gohan attacked me, the Earth was starting to fall apart. I could feel its pain deep inside me, it was the worst agony I've ever been in in my life. I realized I'd have to go down with the planet so nothing like that could ever happen again. Blame it on that fool Kami. But I knew it wasn't going to be painless...and I didn't know if I'd be sent to Heaven or Hell. I wasn't exactly an angel when I was alive..." 

"Yes you are, you're my angel. You've got the halo to prove it." I scooted over and curled up in Piccolo's lap. 

"An angel with bloody wings, maybe." Piccolo sighed. He leaned back against the wall behind him and touched a hand lightly to my hair. I was hoping he'd hold me, but I'd settle for having my hair petted any day. "But that feeling of not knowing, the idea that I could lose myself and everything I am...it scared me." 

It must've taken a lot of pride-squishing for Piccolo to confess that to me. I slid both arms around his middle and took comfort in feeling his solid warmth against my body. Piccolo has about as much give as a brick wall, yet at the same time his lap was like a giant cushion...so I felt safe. He was my shield against everything. 

"Did it hurt? You know....staying on Earth?" 

"Mmh, not for long. I got vaporized by the lava several seconds before the planet itself exploded. One second I was on Earth and in the next I was in line at the Check-In station." 

"But you screamed." 

He glanced down at me. His eyes twinkled. "You should know more than anyone that I'd never go quietly." 

I looked away. 

Piccolo raised my face again. "It's the way I wanted it, Cyndi. I chose my fate, it didn't choose me. I'd have rather died on my feet with my wits about me than in bed, so old I don't even recognize my own reflection." His tone softened, "They didn't need me anymore anyway, I'd done all I could. My time there was over, that's all. I don't regret my choice." 

I closed my eyes and clung tighter to him. "It was still horrible to see you die." 

"....I know the feeling, kid." 

And I knew what he meant. 

I detached the earpieces from the headband part of my headphones, stuck one in my ear and stuck the other in Piccolo's...which caused him to give me a baffled expression. I turned my CD player back on and replayed _My Immortal_. 

"What are you - " 

"Shhh," I silenced him with one finger on his lips. "just listen to the song." 

Piccolo lowered his head and shut his eyes. That put his face right next to mine. I cupped his cheek and caught him up in a deep, fierce kiss. I mean one of those long, tonsil-slurping kisses like in the movies. The best part? I could go on as long as I wanted and didn't need to stop for air - and Piccolo was too flustered to do anything but open his mouth and let me kiss him. God, I love his lips. Even in the Anime world, up close and in the right light, you CAN see them plain as day. They're so soft and, well, kissable! 

I started getting a little hot and heavy on him. From just kissing to kissing and touching. Poor Piccolo was so flustered. Looking back on it now....it's hilarious. His whole face turned bright purple. 

It got to the point where I'd started rubbing that special spot behind his ears, which finally enticed him to actually kiss back. I get carried away with him way too easily...oh what am I saying, he's the only one I CAN get carried away with! My hands wandered down, down and down further still. 

Piccolo let me get away with it. At least he did until I touched him in an embarrassing place - or where it would've been, anyway. He stiffened, grasped my tiny shoulders in his giant hands and pulled me carefully away from his face. "Hey, slow down...you know I can't do that." 

"No, but I like to pretend." I stared straight into his eyes, "Honestly....people are crazy if they _don't_ want to lay with you. You're gorgeous. I'll say that about you till the day I..." 

Piccolo's eyes instantly crinkled. I grinned at him. We both laughed...well I laughed, Piccolo just kind of grinned and chuckled. That broke the tension. 

"C'mon, Paikuhan probably finished pulling the strings he needed to pull to get that room for us." He put his hands down flat to worm back out of the hole, his clothes crackling slightly against the smooth bark. I noticed he was wearing his ring. So was I...it's the only one I don't take off. 

I put my discman away and climbed out. Piccolo gave me a graceful hand up. I took it and hugged him tight after he pulled me upright. "Hey, Piccolo?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Sorry I acted like such a bitch earlier...I just freaked out." 

Piccolo smoothed my spiky hair down and rested his hand on my back. "Don't worry about it. We all get scared sometimes. I know how overwhelming this is to you. But..." he pressed me even tighter against his side. Not too hard though. "Think of how much stronger you'll be when you come out the other side of the whole mess." 

Trust Piccolo to say exactly what I need to hear when I'm feeling lousy. He's good at that. 

I gave him a big hug around the waist. "You always know how to make me feel better." 

"...feh. C'mon, let's get going." That was the end of Piccolo's affectionate mood. He put his poker face back on and I put my hormones away. 

"Okay." 

Piccolo disengaged from me and took off. I joined him in the air. Together, we flew off towards Paikuhan's energy signal. 


	4. Part Four

Self insertion, language and violence warning. Sorry I'm so slow to publish, like I said before I've got RP, drawing and writing to juggle ()   
  
  


Believe Again   
Part Four   
  
The route to this so-called "Quantum Room" was rather scenic - a long walk through the Dai Kaio's pretty white palace and deep into that room where Goku raced the female Kaio. You remember it...the room made entirely of outer space. You actually have to use ki to walk in there, there's no floor. And the only reason Piccolo and I knew where to go was because of Paikuhan's ki signal. 

The door floated "in the back" somewhere. A huge, arched ornate double-door made of gold and some dull gray metal I've never seen before. This weird metal I couldn't name was arranged in spiral-like patterns all around the outside edges and surrounding a mass of cogwheels and gears in the middle. Each wheel must've been the size of a monster truck tire - I even saw one that could block an entire freeway overpass. Where the doorknobs or handles should've been, I saw two rectangular pieces of metal, each with a cone-shaped slot in the center. I guess you're supposed to stick something in them to open the double door. Smart construction, nobody can abuse the room. 

What's the biggest door you've ever seen? Picture it. The door I now stood before was way bigger than that. I mean this door was so tall I couldn't even see the top. Its size kept giving me the illusion of being almost there, then Piccolo and I keep walking until we finally reached it. Despite its immense height it wasn't much wider than a normal elevator door. Try explaining THAT to your physics teacher. 

"You are now entering....the Twilight Zone." I loudly hummed the theme song. "Come on now, all together, doo-doo-doodoo, doo-do-doodoo!" 

Piccolo snarled, "Shut up! This is not the time to play around!" 

I shut up. 

"There you are." Paikuhan pushed off from where he was leaning and approached us. His blue and white clothes stood out against the blackness. "I was beginning to think you two lost your way." 

"My fault." I said sheepishly. 

Something bright floated by. I looked over. A green orb with three suns twirled gently on its axis in the vast emptiness. From my vantage point it appeared about the size of a beach ball, maybe a tiny bit smaller. "Look, there's Namek!" I pointed to it. Then I spotted a blue-white orb. "And Chikyuu! Hey Paikuhan, which one's Emak?" 

Paikuhan raised his fist and pointed overhead to a huge brownish-purple orb with beautiful gold rings. Similar in appearance to Saturn. It was the eighth planet in a system orbiting around a blue giant star that had to be at least ten times bigger and hotter than our sun. Obviously no life could exist on the other planets further in, the intense heat probably kept everything rocky and barren. Emak, like Earth, must've just gotten "lucky" to form where it did. 

"My planet spins so quickly that the gravity on its surface is at least thirty times stronger than what you're used to." 

"No wonder you're so strong." I mused. "Earth spins once in twenty four hours." 

"Try sixteen." Paikuhan looked over at the massive door. It shimmered eerily as if alive and aware of our presence. 

"I know this is interesting, but there's more important matters to attend to." Piccolo cut in, crossing his arms across his chest. His typical stance. If he wasn't so uptight I would've reached over and pinched his butt....but I wasn't in the mood to get elbowed in the face. 

"Patience," Paikuhan slipped a hand into his robe and produced two long, thin crystal cones. I noticed that although his fingers were long and slender, they didn't taper like Piccolo's. "Dai Kaio wants the keys back as soon as we're done." 

Piccolo and I faced the door. Paikuhan placed the crystals in the matching slots and turned them simultaneously in opposite directions. Loud groaning noises sounded from within, a sound so low I felt more than heard it. 

**Fwap-fwap-fwap-fwap-THONK!**

The gears and cogwheels began to turn, somehow winding the weird gray metal into the thick grooves behind each wheel. When the metal was wound as far as it could wind, each wheel sank into the door and rotated once more to lock into place. 

**TSSSS...click!**

Finally the little rectangular pieces Paikuhan inserted the crystals into pushed themselves out and flipped sideways to become door handles. They glowed and eerie white. 

I stared in blank astonishment. I want a door like that! "Cooooooooooool!" 

Even Piccolo looked rather amazed, but he only offered the door a quick once-over. The creepy glow played off his eyes. "Paikuhan, you do the honors." 

Paikuhan grasped the crystal handles and pushed the doors open, pulling the crystals out at the same time. White light stabbed the darkness and made everybody squint or look away. Paikuhan ushered us inside so he could shut the door again. The moment the doors closed I heard that same fwapping noise as when it opened. The weird silver metal unwound and linked itself together across the two doors like laces in a shoelace. Without the keys, nobody got in....and nobody got out. 

_I guess there's no turning back now_... 

_Hey, kid,_ Piccolo broke into my thoughts. _Turn around. I think you'll like this_. 

So I about-faced. 

Talk about weird rooms! We stood together in a huge, round foyer. The domed ceiling was decorated like a star chart and I wouldn't be surprised if it went up and up forever. Another door like the first, but the size of a normal door, waited just across the way. 

Before showing us what waited beyond the small door, Paikuhan gestured to two narrow corridors on either side of us and spoke softly. "The living areas are at the end of the hallways. There's two rooms at the end of each. You can take your pick of whichever you want." 

I smiled, "No problem." 

Paikuhan continued on towards the smaller door. He unlocked it just like the first and pushed it open. If you think the Hyperbolic Time chamber is freaky, try this room. Its floor glowed white and was covered by a swirling, chilly mist that rose to my knees. The sky looked just like the ceiling inside the foyer...except the stars were real. Everything glowed eerily, it kinda creeped me out. I scooted closer to Piccolo. He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. 

"This whole place is outside of time as we know it," Paikuhan told us, his tone grave. "Your imagination determines what environment you train in. It's the reason people go insane. They let their imaginations run too wild. Once you step into the mist, you're at the mercy of your mind" 

"Did you hear that, Cyndi?" Piccolo looked down at me when I gazed up at him. The little foyer place we stood in had beautiful acoustics, it made Piccolo's soft voice a lot easier to hear. "You have to be careful what you imagine in here." 

"Imagining and daydreaming are fine within the foyer as long as you keep the doors closed." Paikuhan's voice remained steady. He must've trained in here several times, he sounded like an expert. "But once you set foot on the Quantum floor, you're at the mercy of your own mind. Oh, and one more thing -" 

Being the ass that I am, I jumped out the door and onto the floor. The gravity yanked me down so hard I thought I split my head open. Good thing I'm already dead or I would've killed myself. All I saw was stars and I don't mean the stars floating up above. "Ow..." 

Both Piccolo and Paikuhan winced. 

" - the gravity is fifty times stronger than what's outside." Paikuhan finished. He promptly face-palmed and sweatdropped. Piccolo just shook his head at me. 

With severely injured pride and dignity, I peeled myself off the floor enough to sit down. How humiliating! I don't train all the time like they do, so every time I come back I've got to start from almost square one. I'll be amazed if I can still go Super. 

Piccolo stepped into the mist and stood over me with his arms crossed. The fog swirled around his legs, but never really thinned enough to let me see his feet. He didn't seem at all bothered by the stronger gravity. "C'mon, let's go check out where we'll stay before we get into anything out here. Can you get up?" 

I forced my hands flat and pushed up. Piccolo never bothered to help, he just stood there watching me while I made an ass of myself again. I finally grabbed his belt and hauled myself upright. He never even swayed on his feet. It would've served him right if his belt broke and his pants fell down around his ankles. Alas, that didn't happen, I was alone in my embarrassment. 

"Thanks for the help," I muttered. "Now let's move before I fall again." 

Paikuhan eyed me when I walked past him. He pulled the door shut tight. "Are you sure you're all right?" 

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I - " I caught my reflection in a little mirrored clock on the wall. My entire left eye was BLACK with bruising. "GAAAAHHHHH!" 

"Serves you right." 

"Piccolo, shut up!" 

Piccolo growled and brushed past me. I glared at his retreating back. Paikuhan stood well away, his lips curled to the side in a 'what the hell was that all about?' expression. He walked way behind me when I finally scuffed my way down the long corridor and stopped in front of the bedrooms. 

The rooms all probably looked exactly the same. Black on black, although I discovered I could "turn the stars on" if I touched a little button on the wall by the door. Okay I'm a liar, the room was actually midnight blue to match the night sky feel on the ceiling. Paikuhan was kind enough to point out the bathrooms where any of us could use a toilet(do dead people take dumps?) or take a shower. 

And on a little desk near the foot of the bed? A computer. Yes, a real, working computer! The screensaver was a tiny little Dai Kaio sprite running around on a black background. Let me tell you, watching a little biker dude with pointy ears and a huge beard run around a screen is freaking funny. Turns out it had a writing program, so I sat down and started typing what was going on so you Believers could stay up to date with me. 

"As a Saiyajin, I think you'll like this part," Paikuhan reached over my head and opened part of the wall. A light filtered into the darkness. All kinds of food appeared. Every kind of food imaginable from A to Z. 

"A fridge!" I dove for it. 

"Here." Piccolo caught me by the back of my pants in mid-air, giving me a monstrous wedgie. He snagged a slab of raw meat and slapped it over my black eye. Splat. "This'll help your black eye." 

Gross! 

"Ow, ew gross!" I flailed, "Piccolo! If you don't put me down right now my buttcrack is going to be three feet deep!" 

So what did Piccolo do? He dropped me. THUD! 

Paikuhan leaned on the door frame with his arms crossed, smirking. "I think I'll leave you two here to get adjusted. Then you should rest. Training out there will be hard on you. Best to start well-rested." 

Piccolo agreed. He agreed so much he shut the fridge on my hand while I was reaching in for a drumstick. I can't catch a break, can I? 

"OWWWWWWW!" 

"Fool, you shouldn't be gorging yourself." 

"Asshat, you should watch for reaching hands before you slam doors!" I pulled my hand free and rubbed my wrist. Add another bruise to my body. I glared at Piccolo and grabbed the drumstick I'd been reaching for before. Piccolo glared right back, his lips pressed tight together. 

"You've been moody and temperamental ever since you got here. It's not like you." 

"Yeah?" I took a bite. Mm, chicken, extra crispy. "So? Is it against the rules to think everything sucks right now?" 

Piccolo just looked at me, frowning. He stopped grinding his lips together. 

I sighed in exasperation, "Look, I just don't want to whine about problems I can't change in my life, okay? Angsty Sues do that, not me." 

"Angsty what?" 

"Nevermind. Writing term." Picking the bone clean, I tossed the remains of my snack over my shoulder and sat down at the computer again. "I guess I can't use PMS as an excuse for this. So let's just say I'm in a bad mood and get on with it." 

Piccolo seemed torn between bothering me to talk and staying where he was. We probably looked at each other for three straight minutes without moving. Finally Piccolo assumed his usual meditation pose and I reached into the fridge for a tub of potato salad. For some reason being mad makes me hungry. 

Between bites, I typed, and when I was done I ran spell check, proofread, spell checked again and posted the chapter. Yeah, I could reach fanfiction dot net from Otherworld! Cool? Cool! 

$ 

I couldn't sleep. Piccolo had gone into the other room and Paikuhan's energy signal was stationary, I'm guessing he was sound asleep. 

When I can't sleep I wander...and wound up wandering out onto the Quantum floor where I sat down just outside the door. I needed the silence. I needed.... 

My mind latched onto my own Namek roleplay character, Bouzouki - his name rhymes with "kazoo" with "key" at the end. Bo, with all his piercings, his Tourette's syndrome-induced tics, his horribly uneducated mind and all his little quirks. The second I pictured him he showed up. Literally sitting in front of me in the mist like he'd always been there. Heh, his face looked like Sylvester Stallone's. And he twitched constantly, making the chains on his right ear and left antenna jingle. 

"Bo....? What the hell?" 

Bouzouki stretched out on his stomach and rested his chin on his fists. He grinned mischievously at me, you could park a truck between his front teeth. "I was about to HAH! ask you the same thing! You HAH! let me out. It's like the computer talk HAH! but real!" 

"I did?" I could see why Ariel's roleplay chars got so intoxicated by his voice. It was a rough, yet pleasant baritone, despite his vocal tics. 

"Yup!" Bo rumble-squeaked. Man, it was weird seeing him move and talk. Usually he's just a still figure drawn on paper. Lifeless and flat. My art never did him justice. And I'm used to talking to him in my head, not face to face. 

"HAH! It's weird to HAH! see with my own eyes HAH! I'm used to seeing through yours." He twitched a few times. 

I got down on my stomach so Bouzouki and I were just a foot apart. A motion that took way more effort than it normally would have. "It's so weird to see you...you're pretty cute though!" 

Bo's face turned completely purple. He twitched a few times, squeaked and met my gaze. His expression turned serious. "I been in your head HAH! a really long time HAH!," he twitched more, "I already know HAH! your problems. You should talk to Piccolo HAH! and just tell him. HAH! He needs to know what's eating you HAH!." More squeaks. I waited patiently for him to let his tics out. When he did he continued, "Really HAH! it's important HAH! you fight with a clear head. Or else HAH! you're gonna get your ass kicked HAH!. And if you lose HAH! I'll disappear. I don't want to HAH! disappear. I don't think the others HAH! want to disappear either." 

I stared blankly ahead for a moment. For just the briefest second I saw the characters I'd met online. Just briefly. Some had wings, a few had scars, some were tall, some had claws, some had feathers, some carried weapons and some were downright creepy. 

People.....they do exist because your mind gives them life. It would suck if we lost them to Void. 

"No...they don't. Nobody wants to disappear." 

"Good!" My muse sat up and patted my face. "Now cheer up HAH! you got work to do." 

"Yeah, I - " 

"Who're you talking to?" 

I startled and jerked my head around. Paikuhan stood on the top step, sans his weighted hat and robe. Despite being asleep a few minutes ago he looked surprisingly wide awake. He sat down on the top step and continued to regard me with patient red eyes. My gaze fixed on the darker spots on his bald head. 

"I was just - " and I faced forward. Only swirling mist where Bouzouki had been less than a second previous. " - talking to my muse." 

"Don't do it too often or you'll lose track of what's real." Paikuhan rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, clasping his hands together. "Have trouble sleeping?" 

"Yeah. I'm sure once all the spaz wears off I'll go out like a light. I can't just lay down and go to sleep whenever like some can." I shrugged and turned around to face him. The blasted gravity made even that simple motion difficult. I was actually tired from just moving around during the conversation with Bo. "You said you're a monk, so um....does your race pray?" 

"At rising, at meals and before retiring. Every day." Paikuhan's pouty lips stretched into a smile. "Legend says the Kais have pointed ears so they can better hear the prayers of the people. What are your gods like, Cyndi?" 

"Three persons in one, thus the Trinity. One God. Nobody can understand or explain it. Just one of those things. I talk to God at bedtime and just when I need to talk to Him. Hey, why not say our prayers together? Might as well since we're here." 

Paikuhan scooted down to sit next to me in the mist. "That sounds like a good idea." He folded his legs into the lotus position and bent his arms as if to clasp his hands, but instead of touching his palms together he crossed his wrists and touched the backs of his open hands together. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. 

I rose to sit on my knees and clasped my hands together. My 'Our Father' mixed in with the prayer Paikuhan uttered in a language I couldn't understand at all...as if someone spoke in Latin and then played the Latin in reverse. It was a peaceful moment. Even though we weren't praying to the same being, we were still sharing the activity. I made the Sign of the Cross when I finished and Paikuhan touched his fists to his chest and bowed down further. He straightened and nodded to me. 

"You should get some sleep now." 

"I will. Thanks." 

Paikuhan stood up and began to stretch. I half-suspected he and Piccolo were going to spar while I rested. It'd be a good warm up. 

I climbed back into the foyer and made my way down the long corridor. The bedroom door was open. Piccolo sat at the foot of the bed, his cape surrounding him in white folds. His gi looked black in the low light and I could see his lips perfectly.__

_Sexy, sexy, sexy, I want a piece of you_... 

Piccolo flicked an eye open. A corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Hey, kid. I heard that." 

"You were supposed to." I snorted. "Hey, Piccolo...sorry about earlier." 

His nostrils flared, the one open eye sliding shut again. "Feh." 

I walked over and plopped down on his lap like I belonged. My tail wrapped itself possessively around his arm. Piccolo didn't even budge. I traced the point of his jaw and planted a little kiss on his cheek. He wrinkled his nose at me, so I gave him another one smack on the mouth. He didn't complain. 

"I have something I need to get off my chest before I go to sleep. It's the reason I've been so bitchy. Please listen?" 

Piccolo opened both eyes to gaze at me. He nodded once. 

I met his eyes. "It's about my mom..." And I went on to explain what's been going on with her. 

My big green man didn't stop me once I started. He waited until I finished before he spoke, "That's a rough deal. Why didn't you mention it before?" 

"I thought it was selfish to worry about Mom when there's a whole universe in danger. I'm just scared she'll have a problem and I won't be there because I'm here, but you need me more. I wish I could cut myself in half and be in both places. You could, you lucky bastard. But I can't. Not if I want to be at full power anyway." 

Piccolo chuckled softly. He touched my hair like he did in the little tree-teepee earlier. "What you do then is pretend Void is that sickness. You beat her, your mom can beat her problem. Visualize, kid, you're great at that." 

"Mmh." Resting my head against his chest, I mumbled, "Would it be too much trouble if I asked you to hold me for awhile? Just till I'm asleep....then you can go off and do whatever." 

He did the little rumble-sigh he always does when he's annoyed. But he put his arms around me and pulled me up tighter against himself. I'd gotten so used to not breathing or having a heartbeat that I barely noticed Piccolo lacked both. I just closed my eyes, letting him pet my hair...I doubt he realized he was doing it...and tried not to purr out loud for fear that he'd stop. 

"Hey, Piccolo?" 

His large hand paused its motion, "Yeah?" 

I cuddled him, "Love you." 

"...feh." Piccolo's fingers resumed their motion through my hair. I guess he realized it was making me drowsy. "Go to sleep." 

And I slept. 


	5. Part Five

Self insertion, language and violence warning. You know, the usual. 

A million, billion, trillion, gazillion thank you's to Onyx for letting me use her character in this chapter. We Rped the scene out together in order to get it just right. Her guy is a hard character to write and I can't thank her enough for letting me borrow him. All of his dialogue is exactly what he said in the RP scene, so in essence she wrote it, not me.   
  
  


Believe Again   
Part Five   
  
I awoke to sheets wrapped around me. A quick glance around through one sleepy eye told me Piccolo was nowhere to be found. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if he and Paikuhan spent the whole time sparring. Maybe they had some conversations, got to know each other better and became friends. 

That also meant they didn't know I was up. 

I washed my face and made some breakfast, then sat down at the computer to type a little more. Didn't have a clue what time it was in real time, but one of my friends was actually on AIM. I couldn't believe this computer in an different universe had frigging AIM. How it could work with the time difference is beyond me. I didn't care, it worked! 

Okay get this - the Otherworld is in danger, I was living in the middle of any Anime-fan's dream and I got online to roleplay! Well roleplaying is addictive! I wanted to get a little in before I had to face several hours of walking and then some beatings. Besides when I roleplay I can do things without actually doing them...fights don't hurt and if you screw up really bad you can go back and re-do a scene if the other player is willing. 

My usual RP partner wasn't on. But Ash, another friend I don't get to speak to as often as I'd like, was on. We chatted for a bit. Then I made some silly comment that her character popped out to respond to. 

One problem - I told myself I'd leave when I finished eating. But I was having an actual conversation with this character instead of teasing mercilessly like I usually do...which is fun since this character is extremely serious and formal...but it's wonderful just talking to him too. The "I'll go after I eat" became "an hour", then the hour became "another ten minutes" ....before I knew it I'd wasted two hours. 

The doors to the Quantum floor opened and shut. I only had enough time to say "brb" and shut off the screen before Piccolo appeared in the room. 

"You were supposed to meet us as soon as you got up," he said curtly. 

I certainly couldn't tell him I was messing around. I thought fast. "I was just finishing up a chapter." 

Unfortunately, my RP partner posted right after I said that. The tattletale speakers trilled. Piccolo's ears flicked at the sound. He glanced at the computer, his lips tightening. 

"What was that?" 

"Nothing..." I lied through my teeth. 

Piccolo wasn't fooled for a second. "If it's nothing, turn the screen on and let me see for myself." 

If my heart was beating it would've skipped a beat. I got defensive. "I already told you there's nothing there, so you don't have to look!" 

Snap! 

Piccolo grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me out of the chair. I watched him reach over and turn the monitor on, exposing the little IM window with one line of black text and three of dark blue. He shut the computer off via the button on the tower. Then I felt hot pokers as his eyes bored into the side of my head. I was sick inside and couldn't meet his dark glare. 

"Just because you have more time here doesn't mean you can squander it by sharing text with other people!" Piccolo's voice became a hiss, "I'll destroy this computer if I ever see that again. This is a writing tool and nothing more." He twisted my face around until our eyes met. "Am I clear?" 

"Y-yeah..." 

"Good." He dropped me on the floor. A shock of pain shot up my tailbone. I watched Piccolo glance over his shoulder from the doorway, "If you're not on the Quantum floor in five minutes - " He didn't need to finish. 

"Okay! Okay! I'm coming!" 

$ 

Getting used to new gravity must be the most tedious part of training ever invented. I mean...I must've spent almost six hours straight just walking along with Piccolo and Paikuhan on the Quantum floor. The further out you go, the stronger the gravity gets. And I couldn't even daydream to forget my aching legs without risking my thoughts coming to life. 

So what did I do? 

I complained. I groaned, moaned, bitched and whined until I swear both Paikuhan and Piccolo were ready to shut me up for good. I hated them both for making me do this. I never asked for this responsibility. I didn't ask for the fate of a universe to be put on my shoulders. Why me? 

And after I ran out of complaining? 

I just started talking. 

"Is it possible for anybody to learn any of the moves I've seen done? I mean like the Kamehameha, the Masenko and all that, they're all different." 

"I wouldn't say it's impossible," Piccolo mused. He looked across me to Paikuhan and quirked a lip, "What do you think, Paikuhan?" 

"I didn't come up with Thunder Flash until after I died. It's possible to learn new techniques with constant training. Why? Are you going to create a new attack?" 

"Not a new one....." I felt myself smile almost wickedly. Maybe I'd surprise the pants off these two if I can learn what I wanted to learn all by myself. "Just one I've seen done and want to learn myself. But neither of you do it so I guess I have to try on my own and just use what I've seen. But I do have a question about something I've always noticed." 

Piccolo glanced down at me. So did Paikuhan. 

"Well um...people always assume a unique pose or do a certain movement to power up their attacks and I've always wondered about that. Why not just open your hand and do it?" 

Paikuhan smiled, his eyes gleaming with knowledge, "I'll handle this one, Piccolo." 

A nod was Piccolo's only response. He gestured for a full stop. We stopped walking and stood still in the mysterious, gently swirling mist. 

"It's all about shaping the energy." Some fog swirled up into Paikuhan's hands and became, of all things, a hose. "The shape of your body determines the shape of the energy you bring out and where it focuses. Imagine it coming up through your feet and through your body. Your movements, the position of your arms and legs, even your words shape your ki into something tangible." He put the sprinkler down and watched it go. Oddly enough we didn't get wet when the water hit us. 

I blinked and started imagining all the different sprinklers my mom used to water the back yard. There was the long one with the bar that sent a waterfall back and forth. The little square one with the spinning silver that squirted water in spirals. A round one that just sprayed a ring. The misting one and those big black ones on golf courses that tick slowly in one direction and then go backwards really fast. All those different sprinklers sprayed water in different ways, but did basically the same thing. 

CLICK! 

The shape of my body determines the shape and intensity of my energy. Just like the shape of the sprinklers made water squirt in different patterns. All I had to do was get my ki to follow my body. 

"I get it.....hey, I understand!" I leapt over and gave Paikuhan a monster hug. The strong gravity made me fall almost too short, but he caught me before I went splat on the floor. 

"Oof!" 

"Heh, thanks." I blushed, "See you guys later, I have work to do!" 

Piccolo blinked, "What about your - " 

"LATER!" 

And I ditched them by going behind the living area building. It didn't look much different than the structure inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, save that it was black and silver, completely enclosed and a whole lot taller. I'd be totally hidden here and they wouldn't be able to peek around without being seen. It was perfect! 

$ 

Goku and Gohan could do it. So could Krillin and even Master Roshi....I knew the stance and the movement, I knew how to touch my hands together and when to lean forward. But my ki refused to cooperate. Almost like getting pee-block at the last second when I had to go really bad - I could get the energy into my arms and then it puttered out before it could burst free. My hands were sore from trying so hard. 

"Dammit!" I cursed aloud, flopping to sit on the misty floor. Despite the light it felt cold against my butt. Fine with me, I was all hot and sweaty anyway. I leaned back on my heels and started thinking about what I was saying on AIM. Seriously, I was going to start talking about what was going on here. But Piccolo so rudely interrupted us and I never got to finish. My mind wouldn't let go of it. 

The air rippled as if a tiny breeze went through. Same kind of breeze I'd feel if someone walked by. I thought nothing of it and rubbed a hand over the top of my head. The move did nothing to smooth down my wild Saiyajin hair. 

"As near as I remember, that's not part of the process," said a low voice behind me, its tone laced with sarcasm. 

That voice! I...I knew that voice, even though I'd never physically heard it before. Never imagined that I would. In all honesty it sounded like Hannibal Lecter to me, but softer, barely above a whisper. A sibilant hiss. Strangely soothing and pleasant to the ear. I wondered if the mist itself had spoken. 

A shiver crept down my back. The presence behind me didn't disappear. _Oh dear God, I brought him here_... 

I jerked around to look behind me. My gaze settled a Namek taller than Piccolo and Paikuhan, but shorter than Void. He stood perfectly still like a lighthouse in the mist. A tall, slim spire seemingly clothed in a swatch of blackness from the sky. His velvet cloak hung with the soft solemnity of a funeral shroud and his hands were templed, the fingertips barely touching. The thick gloves he wore made his fingers appear longer and more nimble, like the legs of a spider. He had a deadpan face much slimmer and more aristocratic than Piccolo's. His ears were different too. They stretched up higher than the top of his head and curved delicately inwards at the tips like a devil's horns. His narrow eyes were silver-gray like the mist - like Void's - but this pair of eyes frightened me more than hers because they had absolutely _no_ feeling in them at all. They looked at me, through me, as if I wasn't even there. The only thing I saw in them was a reflection of myself and the mist around us. 

You think Void is dangerous? He was probably just as dangerous, if not worse! This guy was a character right out of Ash's _Dark Star: Book One_ fic, an alternate universe story where Piccolo Daimaou's children were actual Nameks instead of those monster creatures seen on Dragonball. 

And in an IM window Ash could hold him back, tuck him into her mind and log off. But out here? Away from her? Away from the restraints of his typist? I didn't want to think about it, though I'm sure he knew I was scared. He was, after all, an empath and a very powerful mage. 

Sometimes I really hate my imagination. Why did I have to think about that IM conversation with this guy? 

Maybe he wasn't really there. Maybe I fooled myself again...maybe, maybe... 

"Tambourine..." I said is name like a dolt and reached out towards his cloak. I knew it was dangerous to touch him, but some stupid part of my mind just needed to see if he was real. 

Tambourine's eyes narrowed just slightly. He sidestepped my hand without seeming to move at all. As if I blinked and he'd changed positions. 

I struggled for a breath deep enough to speak, "This's totally amazing." 

"I'm so very glad that you approve," Tambourine answered dryly. He looked away. Left, right, eyes probably peering at things I couldn't see. As usual, he said very little. "I have no time." 

A nervous laugh kept me from blurting out something stupid. I mean, as dangerous as Tambourine is, he's also very, VERY attractive...he's a Daimaou, what more do you expect? But really, the fan-art people draw of him just don't do him full justice. Not when I've seen him moving, breathing and alive in front of me. Yes, the pictures are great and some are damn close, but it's just not the same now. Every time I look at images of him, or draw one myself, I feel like his eyes are watching me. 

"Uh...for a patient guy that's kind of an oxymoron." I fiddled with a strand of my hair, paying no mind to the sounds of Piccolo and Paikuhan sparring on the other side of the building. "It's my fault you're here, this place brings alive anything you imagine and....I was thinking about you." 

Tambourine's lip quirked just a tad. It wasn't a nice smirk. "Your fault...perhaps. Or perhaps not." His eyes settled on mine again, making me feel like I didn't exist. "What are you doing?" 

I balked at him. Wasn't it obvious? "Training." 

"Really..." again with the dry monotone. His voice barely even rose and fell. 

"Yeah." I blurted out what I'd meant to tell him before Piccolo interrupted, "this evil thing named Void is going after Otherworld. If she gets it...you'll die, we'll all die." 

He eyed me speculatively. Analyzing. Tearing me apart layer by layer from my skin to my soul and out the other side. He did it as fast and easily as a knife slicing an onion. "How very altruistic of you." He spoke with a hard, cynical edge that I didn't catch until I thought about his words. It was very difficult to read him without Ash's input behind his statements. Very, very difficult. There's a big difference between visualizing his expressions and actually seeing them. 

I got nervous and looked away from his eyes, focusing on his mouth instead. I do that with everybody. Tambourine just made me want to do it more. 

"Now..." he began again, "why don't you tell me what you're really doing?" 

Dammit, Tambourine must've seen everything going on with....everything! I wasn't surprised. He knew about my mom, why else would he ask that? He _knew_ why I was so short and impatient. I couldn't hide anything from him. 

And I got defensive, "I told you, I'm training! I'm trying to learn the Kamehameha wave. Goku and some of his friends learned it, so can I." I stood up straighter, finally meeting his eyes again. Seeing as we only stood about three feet apart, it was a long way up. Being short sucks. 

Tambourine leaned down slightly, bringing his face nearer to mine. The edges of his cloak swirled forward and fell on either side of me to accommodate his lean. I bit my lip nervously. Every muscle in my body tightened. This man frightened me in ways I never thought possible. His lifeless eyes were unbearable to look into, yet I couldn't look away. 

"Are you fighting for someone, girl? For something? Or..." He exhaled. His breath was cold, not warm, and smelled slightly of the merlot he so happened to be drinking when we were talking in the IM. "is this really just another name for running away?" 

If he wanted to upset me, that did it. A hot coal formed in the nervous knot twisting my stomach. I stood on my toes as if that would make much difference. The sudden change in height made me feel like we were nose to nose, even though his head - and nose - was still a full foot above mine. "I've helped beat Void TWICE before, I can do it again!" 

Tambourine's eyelids lowered slightly. He straightened to his towering height and bowed his head to look down at me, causing shadows to fall across his face. Mostly around his eyes, which took on the appearance of twin mercury droplets. "Perhaps even that...is easier than reality." 

Again with the damn riddles! I am almost completely incapable of abstract thought and ideas. Riddles are like a foreign language to me because I take them too literally. Tell me one or make me read one and my mind goes blank. One of the many joys that come with autism. 

My eyes twitched in frustration. "Will you ever give a straight answer in your life? Just once?" 

He stayed silent for the longest time. Showing no reaction what-so-ever to my little outburst. For all I knew he was plotting ways to kill me.....or use me....with him it's impossible to know. 

Finally, he nodded. Just once. "Pride goeth before a fall." 

_Say what?_ I asked myself. 

A loud explosion ripped across the general quiet. A masenko, I know the sound of its explosion well, it sizzles and goes boom. Shouting followed. Piccolo and Paikuhan were really going at it. Training like I should've been. If I didn't get going they'd start looking for me pretty soon. 

Another explosion. Boom, boom, boom. 

Tambourine's head snapped towards the sound, as did mine. Thank God...I was finally free of those damn emotionless eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if they haunted my dreams the next time I settled down to sleep. 

I tilted my head and looked back at Tambourine. Watching him as a corner of his mouth curved up and twisted. I studied every detail. Every line and curve of him for my memory. He seemed so delicate and fragile, yet....at the same time...and completely untouchable. Like the singularity at the center of a black hole - you can see the space dust swirling around it. You might even see the 'hole' itself. But you'll die long before you're close enough to fall in and reach the center. 

Then again, with this guy, one never knows. 

I wonder if Ash would believe me if I told her about this later. 

"Heh, Piccolo and Paikuhan. They're too much alike," I said, crossing my arms. "Hey, Tambourine." 

Tambourine's eyes settled back on me. 

"Be careful. I'd hate to see you get hurt by Void. She's nasty." 

"The things that she would look for, I do not have," he said simply, turning as if to leave. His cape swirled gently around him. Unlike Piccolo's, it never made a sound. 

"Are you sure?" I cocked an eyebrow, "She loves evil." 

The mage paused and glanced over his shoulder. "Only if there's joy in it. Otherwise, it is not evil, but habit." 

As usual his answer didn't make sense to anyone but him. Just how I am, I guess. 

I managed a smile, "It was nice to see you in person." 

Tambourine stared back at me. Instead of returning my smile, he simply let his eyes lid halfway. "It's a pity you couldn't have heard me." 

"I heard you," I said, taking his response literally, "You sound like Hannibal." I giggled like an idiot, "No really, you do!" 

His expression tightened slightly, changed to what I'd guess is his version of mild annoyance. As if I'd just wasted his time. He turned once more to face me fully while I mentally kicked myself. I can't believe I just blurted that out! My face was completely red with embarrassment. 

"It is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reasons," Tambourine whispered cryptically. Then he spoke in his normal, low voice, the difference just enough to make me jump. "_Why_ are you here, girl?" 

I was too stunned by the question to spout a smartassed answer. If I had to be honest I'd say I didn't know. At the moment I didn't even understand the question. I could only stand there, staring at him with my mouth hanging partly open. 

Tambourine stepped back and bowed gracefully just like those englishmen from the old days, complete with the little fluttering hand gesture. As he dipped the mist swirled to cover him. It started on his cloak and swept around his body. He vanished like the Cheshire cat, except instead of a smile, his silver-gray eyes were the last thing to go. His shape hung in the fog for a long time. Similar to the smoke you see after a fireworks display. 

Tambourine was gone, but it felt like some part of him was still hanging in the air around me. I watched the remains of his outline until the fog's natural swirl erased its most prominent features. Then I collapsed to sit on my butt, both relieved, giddy and mentally exhausted. I knew he'd told me something important, but what? Why would he even bother speaking to me, a lowly girl who's just a pawn in a cruel game of life and death? 

His question rang in my ears. "_Why are you here, girl?_" 

...I hope I find the answer soon. 


	6. Part Six

Self insertion, language(beware the F-bomb in this one) and violence warning. You know, the usual.   
  
  
  


Believe Again   
Part Six   
  
Why am I here? 

Simple question, right? 

Funny thing is, I didn't have an answer. The manner in which it had been presented felt like a dash of ice water in my face. It kicked my ass and woke me up. Is it really possible to do the right thing for all the wrong reasons? Was I here for myself or the Believers? Who or what was I _really_ fighting for? 

Someone's large hand settled on my shoulder. I startled. Without thinking I grabbed the person's arm and flung them over my shoulder. Sheer reflex. The fog parted violently as the large body landed. THUD! My petite height didn't allow the person enough time to flip over and land on their feet. 

"Nice to know you didn't forget everything I taught you," Piccolo muttered from his ungraceful position on the ground. He'd landed on his butt with his cape over his head. 

I burst out laughing. My face grew warm, "Sorry. You startled me." 

"Feh." He pushed his cape off his head and kipped up to a standing position, bringing his belt to eye level. Light and shadow played off the folds of his purple gi and ridged green skin. "I came to check up on you. Didn't feel your ki go up for awhile and thought maybe you had a problem." 

I looked up towards his handsome face. It was nice to see a pair of eyes that actually showed emotion again, concern in this case, albeit extremely subdued. "I was just taking a rest is all. And thinking a bit." I decided not to mention my awe-inspiring visitor because I didn't feel like explaining about how he came to be. 

As usual, Piccolo's response was short and to the point. "Of?" 

"Just...everything." I took a corner of his cape and twirled myself once, surrounding myself in soft linen and his dusty desert scent. Resting against his solid frame, I went on, "Let's just say I got asked a question about myself that I couldn't answer." 

Piccolo lifted an arm to dislodge his cape from my body. He shifted his weight away and settled into the lotus position, which brought his face and eyes more to my level. The mist softened his sharp features. "This isn't like you, Cyndi. You always know what's going on inside you." 

"I know," I avoided his eyes, "but this time I just don't. And I don't want to sound like some angsty whiner bemoaning the confusion in my life. There's more important things to worry about than what bothers me." 

"How you feel is important." Piccolo shook his head. "Tell me what's going on with you. I need you focused, Cyndi, I can't have your mind wandering to whatever problem you're trying to work out when we start getting deeper into training. Maybe I can...." he hesitated as if trying to find the right word, "help." 

I smiled reflexively at how sweet that sounded. It didn't last. Sitting down in front of him, I took a deep breath I really didn't need. "I'm trying to figure out why I'm really here. A very interesting person told me it's possible to do the right thing for the wrong reasons." 

Piccolo eyed me. Not quite a glare, though the light from below made it seem that way. It looked like somebody took a picture of him while he was on the Real side of the mirror and traced over it to make him look Anime. I shut my eyes a moment to imagine the complete transformation. The next time I saw his eyes, they were stone gray with dark pupils in the center. His features were less jagged and more prominent. And me? I probably resembled a vintage Stevie Nicks from the time when she did her hair all frizzy. Can't say until I see a mirror. 

"Sorry, just easier I guess." was my way of explaining it. 

Piccolo's boyish lips tightened, "Stop stalling." 

I looked away, "I don't know how to start." 

He held my chin between thumb and forefinger and turned my face back towards him. His tone was harder, "Find a way." 

My forehead wrinkled, "It's not that simple!" 

"And you say this because...?" Piccolo let go of my chin and crossed his arms. A muscle in his jawbone tensed, leading me to think he was biting his tongue or the inside of his cheek in frustration. 

As usual, I took it wrong and blew up in his face. "You know what?! You don't care about what's going on with me, you just care about having me clear-headed for this stupid fight! Excuse me for being a little confused and trying to work things out on my own!" I twisted into a standing position and stormed away from him. This was too much. I needed a safe spot. 

Two large hands clamped on my shoulders and spun me around. Piccolo glared down at me, once again Anime because I'd stopped imagining him Real. "_Don't_ walk away from me." 

"Let go!" The worst thing anyone can do is force me to stay when I'm trying to escape a stressful situation. 

He shook me once, "Stop this foolishness, Cyndi!" 

"You don't want to listen!" I could feel a tantrum coming on. A slow, intense, itchy prickle in the center of my body, caused by a buildup of stress and adrenalin. "You just want me to tell you to get it off my chest so I can train!" 

Piccolo's lip curled, revealing one fang. He narrowed his eyes. "And you're just using this fight against Void as an excuse to vent your frustration at whatever situation has you upset! It's the most selfish excuse to fight that I've ever seen." 

My blood pressure would've skyrocketed if I still had a heartbeat. Hot tension spread down the length of my spine, making my jaw clench. I bristled and snarled like a cat about to defend its territory. I was livid. Nothing pissed me off more than being proven wrong or discovering an answer I don't want to hear in an argument. I felt like I'd been made a fool of. 

"_FUCK_ YOU!" I exploded into Super Saiyajin mode. Shrugging Piccolo's big hands off my shoulders, I shoved him as hard as I could, making him fly back at least a foot and fall on his butt with a surprised look on his face. "You don't know ANYTHING! All you care about is this stupid fight!" And I fled back towards the living area. Piccolo didn't make any effort to stop me. 

A tear-blurred Paikuhan sidestepped me, he must've seen my uncontrolled aura coming long before he saw me. "Cyndi? What's wrong?" 

I ran right past him, slammed the door of the building and then slammed and locked the door of the bedroom. Threw myself down on the bed, buried my head in headphones and cursed everything I could think of. So much for not acting like an angst whore. At that time I didn't really care. Just one of those times where I wished people would understand without me having to explain. 

Being a Super Saiyajin enhances all five senses. Coupled with intense autistic hearing, I probably heard almost as good as a Namek. So it didn't surprise me when voices came to me during a quiet moment in the Celine Dion music I was listening to. Paikuhan and Piccolo having a conversation. I just picked out the sounds of their voices, so I turned the music down. They were discussing my outburst. Paikuhan seemed intent on convincing Piccolo NOT to burst in on me. 

Piccolo rumbled. "Look, Paikuhan, I've known her a lot longer than you." 

"Yet you said you've never seen an outburst like this before." Paikuhan countered calmly. 

"Not this bad, no," a slight pause, "Her mind doesn't work like those of other humans. Until you know her personally she's a difficult person to understand outright. She's prone to temper outbursts like this." 

Paikuhan chuckled softly, "She does seem a little strange. Not that it's a bad thing." 

"I'm going in." Piccolo jiggled the door handle, "The door's locked." 

"Then wait awhile. Her ki is still high. Wait for it to lower, I'm sure she'll be calmer." 

No more talking after that. I turned my music back on and put a wall up between myself and the rest of the world. 

$ 

I hold grudges for a long time. I'll admit it. When somebody makes me mad I give them the silent treatment until they apologize, even if the whole argument is my fault. Just how I am. Though Piccolo and I rarely had fights, this one had to be the best of them all so far. We both pissed each other off pretty good. I thought so, anyway. 

An hour after retreating to the bedroom, I unlocked the door and waited. Nobody came for at least twenty minutes. I tried dropping out of Super Saiyajin mode and kept my music on low. _Faith_, one of my favorite Celine Dion songs, was on. 

_Don't be afraid of_   
_feeling this way._   
_I'm gonna make you understand._   
_It's not about you,_   
_'cause I am the fool._   
_Building castles in the sand_. 

Finally, a knock. 

"Kid, running away and locking yourself in a room isn't going to make your problem go away." Piccolo's velvet-over-steel voice rumbled through the thick wood. 

_If I act crazy_   
_Just don't care_   
_It doesn't mean I don't want you near._   
_This is the story about me and you_   
_And it's called_... 

"So?" I snapped. "Maybe I just don't want to deal with it." 

Piccolo jiggled the handle again. Upon finding it unlocked he opened the door, stepped in and pushed it shut. His cape swished as he turned to look at me, his face composed. Dim lighting from the odd star lamps made shadows fall around his eyes. Eerily like...no, I was afraid to think too long about that person even in the living area. Unlike Bo, he stayed until _he_ felt like leaving. I'd stopped visualizing him long before he left. 

_Faith._   
_Right beside you is where I'll stay_. 

"I'm not angry anymore," Piccolo said calmly. 

"...hmph." I looked up at the ceiling as an excuse for avoiding his eyes, "That's nice." 

_Oh, faith_   
_Just take me as I am_   
_So please have faith_. 

"But I can arrange it if you wish to continue acting like this." A colder tone this time, almost a hiss. Sexy as hell until directed at me. 

I crossed my arms and continued staring at the ceiling. As much as Piccolo pissed me off, he was still my only comfort here. My 'safe person'. "It's just I don't know if you'd understand what's going on in my life right now." 

Piccolo patted my feet so I'd move them out of the way and sat down sideways on the mattress. His weight made it sag so far that my knees ended up against his butt. He clasped his hands between his knees, his dark eyes looking over at me. "Try me." 

_So many times_   
_in so many ways_   
_I didn't know just where to go_. 

I finally turned over onto my side so my shins were braced against his hip. Propped myself up on one elbow and shyly met his eyes. "I already told you before, you know, I don't know how to start, so..." 

"The beginning." 

_You gave me a sign_   
_And opened my eyes_   
_That's the reason why I know_. 

That sounded like a good spot. 

I avoided his eyes and started talking. "Back in March I found out my mom has breast cancer. She had a whole bunch of medical tests and shit done and in May she had a lumpectomy to take the tumor and some breast tissue out. I misjudged the time she was in there, if it goes good it's two hours, but if there's something in the lymph nodes it takes longer. I freaked out, but it turns out she went in later than scheduled. The surgeon got the tumor, there's nothing in her lymph nodes." 

"Cancer..." Piccolo fell silent and kept listening. 

"She doesn't need the chemotherapy that makes people sick and lose their hair, but she's having radiation done. It leaves her tired and hurting and I can't make her feel any better." I finally looked at him, "My mom is handling all this better than I am. You know how I am about major change. Mom was always up and about, you know, doing stuff. And now she's tired and miserable all the time and she wears unflattering muumuus instead of her regular clothes. She never complains, but I feel like I should be able to do something to help her. I don't mean like housework and picking up stuff she's not supposed to lift, I do that already. But physically taking her pain away is something I can't do and it's making me crazy. I wish I could - " I stopped when I felt warmth on my hand. 

_That you are different_   
_You're still here_   
_I guess you figured me out right there_   
_Now I believe that we can make it through._   
_And that's called_... 

Piccolo's large hand swallowed my tiny one completely. He'd just reached out and taken my hand without me doing it first. He kinda smiled at me with half of his mouth, "I can see where your fighting spirit came from. Your mother is a strong woman, she'll be fine." 

_Faith_   
_Right beside you is where I'll stay_. 

"I know she will. I believe in her." 

He shot me a sharp look, "You know what happens when you do that..." 

I blinked. "Eh?" 

_Oh, faith_   
_Just take me as I am_   
_So please have faith_. 

"Good things happen when you Believe. Isn't that right? If it works for us, it can work for your mother." 

"Heh." I scooted over and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Sorry about earlier..." 

_Have faith..._   
_So don't be afraid of_   
_feeling this way_   
_Just hear me out..._   
_......stay_! 

Piccolo curled an arm around my waist and pulled me up against his side. His voice was right in my ear, "Don't worry about it, kid. I'm....glad you told me about this. This funny little girl with crazy hair once taught me that talking problems out does actually help." 

I looked up to find him smirking down at me. "Next time you see her, tell her it's time to start training." 

_And that's called_... 

He rolled his eyes. "How would you feel about a threesome?" 

Instantly I fell off the bed and landed at his feet. "A WHAT?!" 

_Faith_   
_Right beside you is where I'll stay_. 

"A threesome. You, Paikuhan and myself all sparring at once...." Piccolo blinked down at me when I cracked up laughing. "What's so funny?" 

"You....you.....you have no idea what I thought you were asking me to do at first!" I held my sides because they ached. "No idea..." 

_It's not too late_   
_Just take me as I am_   
_So please have faith..._   
_In me_... 

A huge sweatdrop formed above Piccolo's head and he cleared his throat. "I get the feeling your dirty little mind put a filthy connotation on that." 

"It did! A threesome is - " 

Ten more sweatdrops appeared. "Nevermind! I don't want to know!" 

_Faith_   
_Right beside you is where I'll stay_. 

"You're funny sometimes." I stood up, the humor gone from me. It still felt like I was there to fight Void because I just wanted to beat something up...but maybe in time I'd see past that. 

_Just take me as I am_   
_So please have faith_. 

Let's hope so. I can't afford to mess this up. 

$ 

Feet came at me from one direction and fists from the other. Piccolo kept making up different rules for each session. In one I could only block and in others I could only dodge, and if I cheated I had to run laps. It sucked, but it worked. It also earned me several bruises in places I didn't know I had. They also seemed very fond of grabbing my calf-length hair whenever they saw fit - I should sue them for whiplash injuries later. 

Yes, Paikuhan and Piccolo were pretty strong, but I had the speed advantage. I was a small target. I had less air-resistance when I moved. Paikuhan showed me a few tuck and roll tricks that got me out of several hairy kick/punch/blast sequences. The mist rose waist high on me....every time I ducked and rolled it covered me completely. If I stayed perfectly still it'd be impossible to spot me without crawling on the ground. 

....I'll admit I had fun sneaking up under the mist's cover and sweeping them from behind. It worked, oh, about one time, then they caught on. 

The most hilarious training moment so far had to be the one where I dodged out from between Piccolo and Paikuhan and watched them duke it out against empty air. That didn't go over too well when they realized I was standing three feet away, waving at them. 

"_Why are you here?_" The question snuck up on me during a five minute break. 

_Damn you, Tambourine! You and your riddles! I'm still not sure how to answer that question yet. That was probably the purpose of your visit - to make me think. But guess what? I'll have the answer soon. Right now I just need to get stronger so I can kick Void's crusty ass into the next millennium_. 

Stay with me, Believers. I promise I won't let you down. 


	7. Part Seven

Self insertion and other usual warnings.   
  
  
  


Believe Again   
Part Seven   
  
Hours passed with Paikuhan, myself and Piccolo all in a flat out DBZ-style brawl. And I was getting my ass kicked all over the place. Don't look at me like that, I was just a little rusty! They do this all the time, I don't. I just needed to get my body and ki to remember what it used to do. Kind of like cleaning the cobwebs out and oiling the gears in an old clock tower that hasn't been running for a few years. Movements got easier, faster and more precise. I got more focused. All that old speed I'd almost forgotten found its way back to me. My body was literally retraining itself, remembering what it could do. I just needed to get back into the old routine. 

"Well, Piccolo...." I dodged a foot and an elbow, "Is this threesome as good for you as it is for me?" 

Piccolo's face turned purple. Paikuhan laughed and shoved him aside to sweep me. I landed on my butt. 

"Oww!" My butt felt oddly squishy when I landed. I thought I was just disgustingly sweaty and stood up to face Piccolo, who was trying to advance on me without my noticing. Sweat, or what I thought was sweat, trickled down my leg. No big deal, it was on my arms and forehead too. 

Paikuhan bent over, his face suddenly worried, "Are you all right? You're bleeding." 

"I'm what? Where?" 

"Your leg." He pointed out oh-so-helpfully, his green face supremely confused. 

"WHAT?!" I looked down and saw a trail of blood on the inside of my leg. Shit. I moved my hair, twisted my hips around to look and - oh God - the entire butt of my jean shorts was bright red. I'd completely forgotten about my period. I hadn't changed my pad since I arrived in Otherworld ages ago. The only reason I wasn't all crampy was because of being so active. 

Dead people menstruate? THAT SUCKS! 

Naturally, Piccolo came over and got a good look as well. His face twisted in a manner that made me think he was trying hard not to laugh at my situation. This wasn't new to him. 

"Is it really bad? I can't see all of it." I asked him. 

"Go change." 

It was bad. 

"AAAAH! Gross! Time out!" And I ran inside, squishing the whole way, my face as red as the butt of my shorts. I can't believe that happened in front of BOTH of them! That must've been the most embarrassing experience of my li - my afterlife. 

$ 

I kinda liked the shower in this place. It was a spout on the ceiling that I could raise or lower with a little lever on the wall. It made no sound, but had a strong spray. Just how I like it. Trust me, wet Saiyajin hair is about as controllable as long pine-needles, I needed a strong spray to rinse all the shampoo out. 

The bathroom door squeaked open and shut. I saw Piccolo's blurry outline through the clear blue shower curtain. He'd ditched his cape and turban during the spar, so the only reason I knew it was him was by the shape of his outline and hints of purple and blue from his gi and belt. 

"Hey, kid, are you okay in there?" His voice rumbled nicely off the tiles. I'm glad the bathroom was black, nobody'd see it if I dripped. 

I made a face at him even though he couldn't see me too clear. "That was completely humiliating out there!" Good God, I could've had a bloody ass when my other visitors were here. At least my hair covered the worst of it. 

Piccolo shifted around a bit. "It's not something I haven't seen before. I can remember when such a thing was a daily occurrence - " 

"Ugh, don't remind me, that was nasty." I ducked under the spigot to rinse the second wave of shampoo out of my hair. "Although I have to admit, I'd rather make a mess than have cramps. Those should be back soon enough, now that I've settled down." 

"Tch. You've taken nasty punches, I don't see how a little cramp can be so debilitating." 

I finished rinsing and yanked aside the shower curtain to balk at him. Being naked in front of Piccolo wasn't something I got embarrassed about anymore. He wasn't the most modest guy either, when we were on my side of Reality he'd whip it out and take a leak in a bush in the middle of a conversation - he'd turn his back to me, but still...you get the idea, we're not shy towards each other. 

"Piccolo...you have no clue what cramps are like. No clue at all. Tell me, have you ever had intestinal cramps before? From bad water or something?" 

"Once or twice." 

"And remember how it hurt right before you had to find a bush to blast liquid crap in?" 

Piccolo made a face. "I had dysentery once when I was very young. I didn't always make it. Not fun at all." 

"Take all that pain and stick it here." I poked him right above his pubic bone, almost where he would've had male parts. "Imagine it going up your back and into your chest. Sometimes even down your arms and legs. Makes you dizzy and nauseous, doesn't it? Now what if every time you moved, it sent that shock of pain through you in slow waves? Every time you stop moving around a lot, it sneaks up and nails you. Do you still think it's not debilitating?" 

He stared down at me for a long time, still as a statue. "No wonder you females go insane every month. I'd hate to see what childbirth would be like for a tiny girl like you. You'd rip in half." 

I shrugged, crossing my arms across my chest. "It's all about pain tolerance I guess. The pain of a punch goes away fast, cramps don't." I sniffed the air and covered my nose, only able to smell because I had to breathe to talk. "Eeeeew, Piccolo! You need a shower. Can't you smell yourself?" 

Piccolo eyed me, "What are you, my mother?" 

"Yeah, now go wash up!" I giggled, "You smell!" 

He tossed a towel over my head and rustled around. When I got the towel off my face, Piccolo tossed his gi at me. Fortunately I caught it, so I didn't miss the nice view of his delicious naked form walking from the door to the shower. He didn't even bother with the shower curtain. 

The gi was warm and smelled like Piccolo's sweat, the material soft from constant wear. I rubbed my face in it and smiled. Then I watched the water bead up on Piccolo's green skin while I dried myself off. "I hope we can beat Void this time. She's always stronger when she comes back. Frankly, I'm scared shitless." 

"A little fear is good for you." Piccolo nabbed the soap and scrubbed himself, ignoring the washcloth completely. I instantly became jealous because it wasn't _my_ hands washing him off. Seeing his muscles ripple made up for it. Yum. 

I put on some deodorant and stuck a pad in my underwear. Pulled on a clean shirt and decided on my black sweats. My legs were prickly from being three days without a shave, but I didn't feel like shaving right then. Sweats were the way to go. The bloodstained shorts found a home in a plastic bag to be washed some other time. I had ten other pairs like them, so it wasn't a big loss if I had to toss the stained pair out later. 

"Fear means respect, and if you respect your opponent and don't get an overgrown ego, you have a better chance of coming out on top." Piccolo reached down and shamelessly washed between his legs. There was nothing there, but still! I turned ten shades of red and half-hid my face in my hand, but watched from between my fingers like the pervert I am. Probably the closest thing I'll ever get to seeing Piccolo actually touch himself. 

I know, I know, I have a sick mind. Sue me. Or drool with me, whichever pleases you more. 

"Yeah, I know what you're saying about the Believers out there. It's just....I don't know....I think I'm in a pessimistic phase or something. Could just be hormones." My eyes were glued to the hand moving back and forth. "Mind if I help you with that?" 

"I'm fine." The innuendo went right over Piccolo's head. He paid no mind to my stare and rinsed off. Soap and water trickled down his green, red and pink skin. He shut the faucet off and stepped out towards me, dripping everywhere. "Be careful with how you think. Knowing Void, that might be a trace of her influence as well." 

"Maybe. I dunno...I just, damn, I think my head is just messed up after seeing my mom get sick. Parents aren't supposed to get sick." I handed him a towel, which he used to dry off. Just then my cramps came back and I almost fell off the toilet. They tend to do that when I settle down after being active. I'll be fine and then BAM!!!! agony. 

This was my first time dealing with them as a Saiyajin and.....ouch.....ow....owie....there were no words. No words at all. 

Piccolo materialized a clean gi. He gave me an odd look, both eyeridges raised, "Those really _do_ hurt." 

"Duh! I need to lay down with a hot water bottle. Now." I got up and stumbled towards the door. I couldn't even walk straight, I'm serious, I almost thought something was wrong. But when you're a Saiyajin, everything's vicious. To a hard, life-long trained warrior something like this was probably nothing. 

Two big arms grasped my shoulders and lifted me up to carry me into the living area. I was lowered to lie down and felt rather than saw Piccolo sit down on the edge of the bed. He reached over and placed a large hand on my navel, right on my belly button. A strong, graceful hand with tapered fingers and sharp nails. "Is the pain here?" 

"Lower." 

Piccolo's hand scooted down a few inches below my belly button. I instantly curled my knees up. Usually I put my own hands there, but his was bigger - his palm almost completely covered my lower navel region. I could fit both of my hands side by side on top of one of his. 

"That's it. Right there." 

Piccolo never said a word. I felt his ki rise a little. His hand suddenly became very, very warm. It made the pain worse for a few seconds, then slowly overtook it. The gnawing ache subsided to just pressure. I sighed and relaxed to lay flat, relieved. 

"I just realized you told me about your mom twice." He ducked his head, "I should've listened fully the first time instead of brushing you off and saying what you wanted to hear. It was important to you." His free hand smoothed through my hair. It took a lot for him to admit that. "I'm sorry." 

I reached up and cupped his face, which was still warm from the shower. "Shush. It's okay. You probably had a lot on your mind just like I did. You know how I am." 

"Feh." 

The door creaked open. Piccolo took his hand off my stomach and stood up just as Paikuhan came inside. 

Paikuhan smelled like soap and steam and was wearing a long blue robe tied together with a white cord, so I guess he showered too. His build reminded me of Tambourine a bit, but his shoulders were much broader. 

Paikuhan tilted his head, red eyes studying me. "Are you all right?" 

I twisted my head around to look at him, "In a few days. Sometimes being female sucks." 

Piccolo never said a word. He kind of sat back to meditate like a gargoyle while Paikuhan plopped himself down on the foot of the bed. 

"Does this happen....often?" 

"Once a month." 

"It has to do with her reproductive anatomy," Piccolo finally cut in. "I don't know the details, but it has something to do with fertility and all that mush." 

Paikuhan blinked twice, "Menstruation?" He looked at me, flabbergasted as if this discovery was something completely amazing to him, "But you're female, how is that possible?" 

"Uh...exactly, I'm female. Females have periods. Why?" 

"Well," His green face turned red. He smiled sheepishly, "I menstruate every six months, each period lasting about two weeks. Where I come from, the men carry children. During intercourse the female casts her eggs off and the male body takes it in and fertilizes it. Same parts, just opposite functions. Olibu had to explain how it worked for others twice before I got it. I've just never seen someone experiencing it before." 

"Yeah well, the cramps hurt just the same." I smiled, completely fascinated "That's interesting...do you nurse too, or do the females do that?" 

"No. I know how backwards that sounds to you." He didn't even blush at that one, he just untied his robe enough to let me see two rows of three small nipples on his ribcage. Each one matched his skin and was completely inverted. I even saw.....well, he didn't have what I thought he'd have down below. It didn't look male or female, let's put it that way. He closed the robe again after I nodded. "They fill up and pop out during pregnancy. I could carry six children at a time, but two or three is about average." 

"Litters...ouch!" I balled up and winced, "And to think I'd only have one at a time, maybe two for twins, three would be a total fluke, but it could happen. If I had more meat on my bones I'd have bigger breasts, but I only have two. Ugh, anyway...do you have any kids?" 

"No, I'm celibate." Paikuhan glanced over at Piccolo and smirked halfway, "And I don't think you'll have to worry about having another cycle after this one finishes. If you were having yours like I was, it will just finish itself and you won't have any more until you return to life." 

"I'd be happy if I didn't have to have them at all unless I wanted to. Mine are so horrible sometimes. I was a late bloomer, so I used to want them before I got them, now I wish they'd stop." 

"Don't we all..." Paikuhan looked up and smiled as if remembering something. "I don't miss mine either." He lowered his head to look at me again, sliding to stand. "Piccolo, it would be wise to let her rest until she feels up to training. These cycles are difficult on the body and horribly uncomfortable." 

"I'm just glad this will be over with soon. She's impossible when this comes on." Piccolo let his breath out, annoyed, and drew another, sharp eyes glancing up at Paikuhan's face, "I'm glad you don't have yours. I don't think I could stand dealing with two pissy bleeders." 

I buried my head under a pillow. 

Paikuhan headed to the door, laughing, "It's just the body renewing itself. Casting off a part of its old self to make way for newer, better things." He paused, "I'll catch you later." 

I lifted the pillow off my head, "Did you know....?" 

Piccolo's face turned purple and he seemed a little grossed out. "No idea at all. Just makes me more glad I only have weird body parts in your world." 

"Hey now..." I whacked him with my pillow, "You've done the deed before, don't tell me you didn't like it." 

"Cyndi." Almost a whisper. I know that warning tone all too well. 

"Hmph." I turned over on my side, facing away from him. His statement stung a little. It made me feel like I wasn't any good when he and I...well, you know. 

"Look," Piccolo snapped, "it's just not in my list of priorities right now." 

"It wasn't then either. We just got carried away and let it happen." 

"Yeah?" He said, even more annoyed. "Well I can't do that here." 

"I know. I'm just saying...it was nice when we did." 

Piccolo fell silent, his arms crossing themselves across his chest. Without looking I knew he'd closed his eyes and lowered his head again. "Yes," he said softly, "it was." 

"Not to change the subject, but..." I faced him and used my arm as a pillow to prop my head up. "I should only be down and out for tonight and tomorrow, but after that I'll just have to change a pad once in awhile. Then I'll be ready to finish up our..." I smirked, "threesome." 

The Namek's lips curled into a wicked smirk, "You're on, kid." 

$ 

As usual, I couldn't sleep right. A combination of a strange bed and hormones just didn't give me much rest. In the darkness my eyes focused on Piccolo's discarded cape and turban. A large weight bowed the mattress behind me. I rolled over. Piccolo's broad back took up all my visual field. His breathing immediately suggested he was sound asleep. Not dreaming, just deeply asleep. 

I leaned over to kiss him beside the ear and climbed off the bed. Went to the bathroom for a fresh pad and then down the hall. Paikuhan was asleep too. I only saw his hand sticking out from under the blankets. I don't understand how people can stand to sleep with the blankets over their head, it's way too stuffy for me. 

Great, everybody was asleep. I wandered back to fix myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich(which I ate in two bites) and drank a glass of milk. Staggered back to bed. Still not sleepy enough. I was dying to turn on the computer for some late night RPing to calm some of the swirls in my mind, but Piccolo said himself he'd destroy the computer. And I needed it if I wanted to get my work up as I wrote it. 

I did turn on the computer to write for awhile, but that got boring too. Plus I can't stand having the monitor on with the lights off. 

So I wandered out onto the Quantum floor and gazed up at the twinkling stars that make up the "ceiling". My mind was so full. Too full. Bursting. Thoughts about my mom, the tumor she had removed, the fight......I kept thinking and thinking as if the stars would spell out all the answers. 

My cramps nailed me again. I wanted to cry, but all I managed was to moan, "If something knows why I'm here, just speak up, dammit. I'm tired of thinking!" 

I flopped backwards to lay on my back with my eyes closed, sighing in frustration. A presence formed, but I ignored it, thinking it was Piccolo or Paikuhan checking up on me. Whoever it was, they were bending over to get a closer look at me. 

The scent was all wrong. Piccolo smelled like desert dust and Paikuhan's scent was a mix of cement and eucalyptus. This person's smell was like smoke...cigarette and wood smoke mixed with sun-heated metal. 

"I know the answer your question," said a low, guttural voice. "It's quite simple. You're here to be destroyed. Piece by piece. And I'm going to have fun doing it." 

My eyes snapped open. I looked up towards the voice. 

Void's slitted silver eyes were only a few inches from mine. 


	8. Part Eight

Self insertion and other usual warnings. I'd also like to extend a million thanks out to Chaotic-Souls(go check her fics, they're neat, same with Onyx!) for letting me borrow her boy, Discord, in this chapter. I put the scene together the same way I did with Onyx's character, Tambourine, by Rping it out and keeping it as true to the character as I could while staying in my POV. This is so awesome, thanks a million bazillion more! 

This chapter's quite a bit longer than the rest. Sit back, grab a favorite snack and enjoy.   
  
  
  


Believe Again   
Part Eight   
  
I stared long and hard into Void's mercury eyes. The difference between hers and Tambourine's were like night and day. Her gaze bled pure, unmasked hatred. It almost stung. Just looking at her sent pangs of dread and loathing down my spine. As she gazed down at me, her slitted pupils opened wider to adjust to the light levels, turning the silver from a slit to almost a circle inside the whites. Just like a cat's eye, minus the colored iris. Hell, the white probably _was_ her iris. 

Honestly, I'd never seen Void this close up for so long before. The patterns on her skin danced like the reflections on the bottom of a swimming pool, but slower, though I'm guessing the speed changed with her moods. I didn't see a visible nose on her face, but she had the same insect-like mouth as Cell. Only she had something Cell didn't - teeth. I only saw them because she was baring them in a sick grin. Long piranha teeth, the only white thing on her aside from the whites in her eyes. Chilling against her darkness, I could hear them rub together when she moved her jaw. A sound like metal rubbing metal. Very quiet and subtle, yet to me it was so loud it hurt my sensitive ears. 

"Hi, there." Void whispered, "Fancy meeting you here." 

God, how I hated the sound of her voice. I hated the hollow resonance, the rasp and most of all the mocking way in which she spoke. Something about it always pissed me off. 

I swallowed. If my heart was beating at the time it would've been a machine gun. Stress made my cramps even worse and I still got that sick, itchy feeling in my stomach that I get whenever adrenaline is being released. Don't ask why my body could still do that. Nobody said Otherworld was logical. "You're trespassing. Go away." 

"Go away?" Her eyes danced with laughter that never escaped, "But I just got here. Didn't anyone ever teach you it's rude to send guests away when they've only just arrived?" 

My stomach turned over. "I didn't invite you." 

"But you did." Void tapped the side of her head with one long finger. Until then I hadn't noticed she was on all fours, resting her upper body on her elbows like it was the most casual thing in the world. "Piccolo is right about you. You think too much. And now look where it's gotten you." 

I shut my eyes. Tried to think of something else to make her disappear. But my brain was frozen on her, on what she might do next, how she could hurt me. My mind couldn't let go of the image. 

"You can't make me leave now that I'm here." Void said casually, swishing her tail. I heard the stinger scratch against the glowing, polished ground. "Because you have to think about how to defend yourself. And you can't do that without visualizing. Face it, Cyndi, you're stuck with me." 

"Well that sucks." 

She shot me a little glare. Then her eyes blinked and twisted up slightly at the corners as she laughed. "Just like you suck on your green boyfriend, I imagine." 

My face must've lit on fire because it got so hot. "That's none of your damn business!" 

Another rasp of a laugh. Void pushed up to sit on the floor, legs outstretched with the ankles crossed, her wing-like projections splayed out on the floor behind her. She leaned back against her hands and stared lazily over at me. Her body was hourglass shaped and streamlined. Like an aerobics athlete. 

I jumped to my feet. Void was so tall, nine feet nine inches, that she came almost eye to eye with me while seated. 

"My goodness, you're a puny thing." Void's eyes flared with barely controlled rage, perhaps embarrassed that such a "puny thing" kicked her ass. Her face melted to another smirk, "Look at you. Your hair takes up more space than you do." 

It took everything in my power to hold my tongue. She was trying to set me off. Trying to make me act stupid and fight. She knew I wasn't ready to fight her yet. She _knew_. 

"Aww, what's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Her tail swished, a black mass that stirred the mist. "Honestly, darling, I don't know what Piccolo sees in you. You're immature, your mind is flawed and you're a burden because you can't live alone. You think I don't know these things?" 

That one drove a knife right through me because, often times, I feel like that about myself. Void just reassured that negative form of thinking. I bit my lip as cramp pain oozed its way up my back and chest, making me feel dizzy and nauseated. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear. 

Void eyed me oddly. Her face drew up into another sick smile. She kipped up and walked towards me, feet making metallic plunking noises on the floor. A mass of oily blackness moving towards me in the mist. 

Most of Void's height was her legs. My head barely reached past the top of her hips. At that moment I was in so much pain that I didn't even have the strength to look up at her. It took everything I could to stay standing in the gravity, which didn't seem to bother her at all. 

She chuckled down at me, "You know I'm right." 

A tear formed in my eye, blurring half of my vision. I blinked to distribute it over my eyeball rather than let it leak out. Right then my cramps were so bad I had no choice but to hold onto my stomach and bent my knees. It was either that or faint on her feet, and I wasn't fond of that idea either. 

And Void picked up on it. 

"Oh, I see..." she grabbed my chin in her large hand and yanked my face up to meet her eyes. "If you can't handle that kind of pain, how do you expect to handle another battle with me?" 

She'd get no reply from me. Cramps are just a contraction in my internal girly parts, all I needed to do was wait for it to pass. Usually about a minute or two, though I've had some last over an hour before. 

I felt Void's armored fingers close tight around my jawbones. It made me wince and glare up at her. She smirked at my pain, "I so love it when you hate me, Cyndi." 

Thirty seconds. Forty seconds. Fifty seconds....and the pain softened to a more tolerable level. I struggled not to smirk in her face. 

"Then you'll really love this." I grabbed her arm with both hands and smashed my feet in her abdomen. 

The impact folded Void in half, just as I hoped. She dropped me. I launched towards the door into the living area. I got about three steps away when my head violently snapped backwards. My feet flew out from under me. Just goes to show how much inertia can be a bitch. 

"I thought this hair was good for something." Void lifted me up to eye level, the humor gone from her expression. She held me at arm's length while I flailed and kicked ineffectively at the air, trying to get down. And she laughed at me. "You really are pathetic." 

"AAAH!" No choice, it was scream or die. Thank you, God, for giving me strong screaming lungs. "PICCOLO!" 

Void yanked me up against her side and clapped a hand over my mouth. "Shut up or I'll eat your soul right here!" To prove her point, she pressed her stinger to my throat. She leapt back several yards and ducked down below the level of the mist, where even a figure as black as her could disappear completely until you stood on top of her. 

I was pinned hard against her side. Couldn't move my arms and legs. Couldn't make a sound. Couldn't do anything or her stinger would be in my neck before I blinked. 

I saw sliver of the door as it opened and closed. 

"Cyndi?" Piccolo's baritone rasp barely reached my ears. There was only hints of his green skin over the foggy whiteness. 

No way to get his attention. No way to move my arms or legs. Wait....my tail! Void didn't pin it! 

I quickly uncurled my tail, stretched it straight up and waved it frantically in the air. If it didn't go higher than the mist, at least it'd cause a big enough disturbance to get Piccolo's attention. It was enough, I saw his head snap my direction. 

Void's head twisted around. "Damn you!" She grabbed my tail. My body spasmed in white-hot pain. Pain so bad I threw up all over the place as blackness crept across my vision. I thought I was being sandblasted and dragged through fire. A cold tingling sensation spread over my skin. It was like having all of my organs ripped out through a hole the size of a dime in my tailbone. I couldn't even scream. My throat clenched and my body froze up. I'd take cramps over this agony any day! 

"If you value your little girlfriend's soul, you'll stay back," Void snarled, digging her tail against my throat even more. 

"If you value your neck, you'll let her go," Piccolo replied coldly. His dark eyes were narrowed to mere slits. 

I just hung there, helpless. This pain from my tail, it didn't wax and wane, it was constant. Unchanging. Crippling. Blinding. 

Paikuhan burst out the door, eyes wild. "What's going on - Void!" He charged her straight on before Piccolo could stop him. Void just looked at him. He went flying out of sight. From a look. 

My memories aren't too clear on what happened next. I just remember a lot of movement. Jerking around, flailing and cursing. Then Void released me and the pain instantly stopped. Clarity returned. I was on my back with Piccolo lying on his stomach underneath me. Piccolo and Void fought so hard they'd moved us completely out of sight of the living area building. 

Void was out of view, probably hiding in the mist again like a predator waiting to pounce. I couldn't spot her anywhere. Damn that mist! 

Piccolo sat up, pushing me backwards slightly. His face was bruised, but otherwise he seemed okay. He glared at me with molten black eyes. "Are you all right?" 

"She almost kicked my ass." 

He got to his feet, pulling me up as well. "You brought her here, didn't you?" 

I balked, "I didn't mean to! I was just thinking and - " 

"Stop the excuses." Piccolo snapped. "I always told you you think too much!" 

"I already told you, it was an accident! If you pulled some of that stubborn shit out of your ears and listened - " 

I didn't have time to finish. Piccolo's eyes snapped wide-open at something behind me. That classic 'oh, shit!' look. Before I could act, he shoved me aside. Void's stinger missed my head by half an inch. 

And planted itself in Piccolo's side. 

"No!" 

"This is even better than I planned!" Void burst out laughing, "Your soul is mine, Piccolo!" 

Piccolo just hung there, stunned. Void's stinger had gone in at an angle, pointing it up towards his chest. His body twitched like a worm on a hook. I didn't see why until I noticed action in Void's tail. Oh my God, she was....she was....she was sucking on him just like Cell did! 

Piccolo started screaming. I mean _screaming_, the kind of screams I never want to hear again. Remember when I had to set his legs? It was even worse than that. He reached out and grabbed my arm. His hand looked like it did when his arm was partially absorbed by Cell. No, not his hand.....his whole body. His skin turned a sickly yellow and sagged on his bones. His clothes almost fell off. I saw terror flash in his dark eyes, and Piccolo is NOT one to be afraid of just anything. 

Tears sprang from my eyes. My mind swirled, trying to find a fast solution. There was no way I could get Void off him. I needed a weapon, someone who knew how to use one... 

Something long whistled in the air above me, missing my tail by a mere inch as it embedded itself in the ground like King Arthur's sword. I didn't look long, just enough to know it was heavy, sturdy and bladed. I grabbed the heavy, long thing up and spun around, cracking it across the back of Void's neck. 

The impact rang out like a church bell. Void howled in pain, but I didn't even look at her. I was still staring at the object in my hands as I landed on my feet. It was a.....a bo. A heavy, six foot long bo made of highly polished steel and some blackish-green wood I'd never seen before, curiously decorative with a sapphire in a crux on the hilt. It had two foot blades on each end with two feet of hilt stretched between them. This weapon was familiar, I knew who it belonged to, but the name and face wouldn't coagulate in my brain. 

No, no time to worry about it, I brought the bo around and held it overhead to smash it across Void's face and slice her head off. 

Void drew up to her full height and glared, not at me, but at something behind me. "Oh, great..." 

A green, taloned hand snatched the bo from me in mid-swing, followed by a smooth tenor voice, "That's not how you use a bo, girl." The new presence twirled the bo and brought it to his side, his arm hissing inside a black sleeve. 

Void moved to a fighting stance. Her face twisted. She dropped Piccolo and clutched her neck in pain, snarling, I must've nailed her pretty good. The patterns on her armored hide rippled faster around her body. Like violently disturbed water. She spun and narrowed her eyes at me. Her silver pupils contracted to mere slits. If looks could kill, I'd be dead now. "You stupid bitch! You hurt me!" 

Oh, damn. I froze. Void bared her teeth and backhanded me so hard I saw stars. I flew backwards into the new presence, sending us both sprawling on the ground. 

"Oof!" 

Black fabric swirled around me. My cheek scraped against old cotton cloth and a solid chest underneath. The other form growled, pushing himself up on his elbows. "Void...don't you ever learn to stay in your own damned hole?" 

I turned my head part way to see a young green man with boyishly pouty lips and triple scars lining each side of his face. He stared towards Void with a pair of slanted ivory eyes. Eyes that I instantly knew couldn't look back at me. 

Hold the phone, I know that guy! He was like Daredevil's Namekian equivalent. Or that's what his typist liked to think...hey, I agreed. 

"Di....Discord?" 

"Yeah," Discord smirked towards me. His eyes crinkled, causing wrinkles to form in the exotic scars framing his face. He drew up to his full six foot five inch height, eyes lidded, night-hued duster flaring down to his ankles to frame his lithe body. It kinda reminded me of Neo's jacket in _The Matrix_. "Thought I'd come join the fun, if ya don't mind..." 

Void finally seemed to shake off the pain I caused her. Heh, in that case being a pain in the neck was a good thing. But anyway, she looked mighty pissed. And she was standing over Piccolo's helpless form, neither Discord nor myself could reach him without getting impaled. And Di didn't have a halo...it wouldn't be a good thing if he died here. 

"Grrr..." Void pointed her long stinger at Discord, then me. She glanced back down at Piccolo and snarled. I guess we had her outnumbered pretty good, because her face tightened into another snarl. "I don't have time for this." She looked pointedly at Discord, "Piccolo's good as doomed anyway." A cocky smirk, "See ya." 

Discord's slender hand gripped the bo so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He snarled, baring his fangs. His face became so fierce I half-expected his eyes to start glowing white. "You cowardly bitch!" 

"Big words, little man. I'll be back to finish our date after I dispose Piccolo and Cyndi. _Ciao_." Void blew him a kiss and leapt backwards into an invisible shadow. I only say this because there was no mist, no flash, she just leapt backwards and vanished into thin air. As if she'd fallen into a shadow. I wished it was a black hole so I didn't have to see her again. 

As soon as Void was gone, I dropped onto my hands and knees and crawled until I found Piccolo sprawled out on the floor. He looked like one of those mummies people dig up and put on display in museums. His clothes hung off his frame. He stared up at me, trembling, his eyes glazed. When I finally got to Piccolo's side, he reached out and took hold of my arm. His skin felt like wrinkled paper. A faint yellowish smoke oozed from the wound in his side. I could feel his ki draining like sand in an hourglass. Something told me that if something wasn't done soon, he'd completely cease to exist. There would be no wishing him back, he'd be gone. Forever. 

I laid my hand over Piccolo's fragile one. He was thinner than I was, or would be if his bones were as small as mine. For a seven foot tall person, weighing less than seventy-nine pounds is very, very bad. 

His lips moved, but he didn't have the strength to make sound right then. He spasmed in pain. I think he tried to say 'help me'. 

"Shh, don't try to talk. I'm right here. It's...it's gonna be okay, just hold on." I looked up at Di, helpless. "He's dying....I mean, his soul....I didn't know what she did! He's leaking this weird smoke..." Tears streamed down my face. They burned my eyes. "Can you....help?" 

Discord turned his head my direction. His cloudy eyes seemed to stare right at mine. For a moment I forgot he was blind. He faced me fully and he walked forward, using the tip of his bo like a cane to tap out his path; it made a pinging noise on the floor. Only easing up when the blunt edge of a blade touched Piccolo's foot. He put the bo down and felt his way across Piccolo's body, assessing the damage. Piccolo shifted when he was touched. 

"I can try," Di said solemnly. His forehead creased in thought, followed by a slight tightening in his lips. "Soul wounds are a bit harder to heal than those of the flesh." 

Piccolo looked from Discord to me. He let go of my hand and stopped moving completely the way people do when they die in the movies. I still felt his ki, so I knew he wasn't gone yet. But I panicked anyway, pulling Piccolo's head up against my chest while Di's hands explored the wound. He stuck a finger inside and frowned at the depth. Something told me his finger didn't find the end. I barely contained a sob. 

Discord's eyes turned my direction. "_Saa_." He moved his slim hand off the wound and gave my shoulder a light squeeze. 

"I....I'm still...still here...kid..." Piccolo whispered. "Who's this...new guy?" I barely heard him at all. He must've used up all his strength just by holding onto my hand. 

I stroked Piccolo's yellowed cheek and kissed his forehead. It was like kissing exposed bone. "Long story, Piccolo..." I looked over at Di, "but this's Discord." 

Discord only offered a brief nod. He took his hand off my shoulder to touch the wound again. I stayed quiet and merely watched his hands work. Nice, slender piano hands, if the situation wasn't so dire I would've smiled at them. 

It stayed quiet for an eternal two minutes. Finally Di heaved a deep breath of....what? Relief? Despair? Couldn't say. He glanced my direction, then towards Piccolo. His lower jaw worked in silent contemplation. He squinted, then said, "Cyndi, I need you to do something for me." 

"Mmhmm?" I leaned further over Piccolo and looked up, "Anything..." 

Discord's eyes were staring at mine, "Do you know the Lord's Prayer?" 

"I'm Catholic, of course I do." 

His lips twitched into an almost-smile, "Good. I need you to recite it." 

Piccolo groaned and went completely limp in my arms. He weighed so little that I didn't notice until his head lolled against my chest. The panic bubble in my stomach tripled in size. 

Discord took my free hand by the wrist and placed something on my palm. A rosary with rose-hued beads and an ivory crucifix that matched his eyes exactly. The moment I felt it a new calm came over me. Faith, hope...I knew he could help Piccolo. All I had to do was...heh....believe. 

"O-okay..." I clutched the rosary to my chest and began to whisper the prayer, my other hand not leaving Piccolo's cheek. "Our Father, who art in Heaven..." 

While I did that, Di turned away. He placed his hands on Piccolo's chest and side, defibrillator-style, bowed his head and closed his eyes. His antennae and face drew up in tense concentration. I think he just had me say the prayer so I wouldn't hover and blubber like a frightened baby. 

I barely made it through the prayer. I kept crying. It wasn't that I didn't trust Discord....it's just.....I didn't want to lose Piccolo. Not after all we'd been through. I kept saying the prayer though, hoping it helped somehow...hoping to lose myself in the words and float away from this fear. God, if You're up there, please listen. 

Piccolo's frame moved slightly against me, almost like he was moving away from a source of pain. He went still after that. An odd fire washed over Di's body, down his arms and out his hands, splashing into Piccolo. His nails dug slightly into Piccolo's skin, pulling the wound shut so it healed properly. He parted his lips and started chanting the prayer along with me. Piccolo never moved. 

_Please...please work!_ I prayed harder than I'd ever prayed in my life. 

Still no movement from the gaunt form in my arms. He shimmered as Discord's energy poured into him. 

It was too much. I retreated into the refuge of my mind and started rocking back and forth. Rocking isn't something I do unless I'm extremely distressed and can't find a way to express it. All I thought of was the safest place I knew of. A church. 

As was typical in the Quantum Room mist, a church slowly formed around us. The dirty, desolated church from Discord's city, a place long abandoned, save for a few bums, ghouls and demons wandering about. 

"All right..." Di muttered under his breath. I don't think he knew I could hear him, "Get your green ass up and heal yourself. You got someone that's worried about you, and she's driving me nuts with the snot hanging out of her nose." 

No change at all. None. 

Discord bared his vulpine fangs. I felt him add his own life aura into the mix he poured into Piccolo. This couldn't go on too long or they'd both lose everything! 

Piccolo stirred weakly, "Easier said than done...you're not the one that.....that just had your soul half-eaten, dammit!" 

That got a sniffly smile from me. Piccolo-ese for "I'm trying!" 

"Grab my hand," Discord held a hand out over Piccolo's. 

Piccolo's emaciated arm shuddered towards Di's hand, fingers grasping empty air. I looked away because I didn't want to see it if his arm broke off. _C'mon, Piccolo, you gotta believe too if you want to keep going_... 

Di grabbed Piccolo's hand, which was still much bigger than his even in its weakened state. "I'm right here..." 

"Got you," Piccolo's fingers grasped, stronger. 

I saw Piccolo move and reached out to take his other hand. "Come on, come back. Di, he looks better! You're doing it!" The rosary in my hands felt suddenly hot. I glanced down to find the beads glowing dull red, the beautiful ivory cross shining brightly like sunlight on a lake's ripple. My distraction made the energy level sag. 

"Cyndi," Di snapped, "RECITE!" 

I startled and almost snarled at him that I was getting to it. But thought better and took a deep breath, panic bubble rapidly shrinking, "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done..." I sniffled so snot wouldn't run down my face. It wound up back in my throat and I had to swallow it or gag. "...on Earth as it is in Heaven..." 

Discord kept tugging on Piccolo's hand. Expression fierce but faraway, he noticed only Piccolo and nothing else. Energy poured from him in a constant stream. Healing Piccolo, healing whatever chance there is for survival in this horrible battle. But I started to worry...what if all this mess made Di have a seizure? I shut that thought out. He wouldn't, he couldn't, not now. No! This WILL work! 

"...give us this day our daily bread," I let a sob out, "and forgive us our tresspasses...as we forgive those who trespass against us." 

Piccolo's color improved. 

"...and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil..." 

Di squeezed Piccolo's hand. "Come on, you sonuvabitch...you got a woman waiting on you." He looked exhausted, his duster starting to droop on his shoulders like a black rose about to wilt. He couldn't keep this up much longer. 

"...for thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, now and forever." I Crossed myself. "Amen." 

Suddenly, Piccolo's fingers tightened their grip on Discord's hand. He held on like it was the last thing he'd ever hold onto. The energy Discord poured out became blinding. I shut my eyes to the light and heard a swish. The next time I saw Piccolo, he was muscular and emerald green again, albeit glowing dull red. He'd arched his back to brace himself from the rapid infusion. I felt him gradually relax. The glow faded. He breathed out a little red cloud and opened his eyes - they were liquid black and razor-sharp once again - and stared up at Discord. Probably the first time he saw him clearly. 

And the first thing out of his mouth? "What in the world happened to your face?" 

Discord managed to ease his hand out of Piccolo's iron grip. "I looked in the mirror and realized I looked like you," he said sardonically, shaking his hand to get the feeling back. "It's a fashion statement, what'cha think?" 

I laughed, missing the sarcasm completely. "It adds character." 

"Ease off, kid." Piccolo said. He sat up with one hand holding the side of his head. I don't blame him for having a headache after all this mess. Hopefully it'll be the only hangover he experiences. I've been there, they're no fun. 

And as usual, I had to talk before thinking. "You're a lot cuter in person," I said to Di. I covered my mouth right after, but it was too late. Me and my damn big mouth! 

"Yeah, right." Di just kind of smirked. "Trust me, I wouldn't do this again for the world." He finally unclung his other hand and sat back on his butt, knees up. He took a few breaths with half-closed eyes. "Save that shortness over there called me to come rescue your big ass." 

I stood to my full five one height and glared playfully, "Who're you calling short?!" 

"You, midget." He smirked and crossed his arms. 

"Grr...I'll show you short!" I launched myself at Discord and locked my arms around his neck. He fell over sideways with me on top of him. I didn't stop to think I just gave him a faceful of prickly Saiyajin hair. 

Di blinked once, twice. He pushed a handful of my hair out of his face. "Your hair is smothering me, you oversized furby." 

Piccolo's face introduced itself to his palm. He shook his head and smirked, "She's a ball of energy. Watch it." 

I laughed and gave Discord a good squeeze. Then I moved off to sit next to him. Something that'd been eating at me(aside from cramps) flashed across my mind. Void and Discord seemed to know each other. That in itself was rather odd to me. Did more than one Void exist? 

"How'd you know about Void?" I asked, just as I noticed where I was. An old, abandoned cathedral with broken stained-glass windows that mixed colored splotches into the patches of sun hitting the floor and altar. A dingy tabernacle reflected halos on whatever parts of the ceiling still remained. It kind of bothered me that Di couldn't see those pretty colors anymore. He probably missed them terribly. 

"That's a good question." Piccolo flexed his hands and arms, getting feeling back in them. I tried not to get hypnotized by his rippling muscles. Piccolo's a pretty slender guy, he didn't look super beefy unless he flexed. But it was FUN watching him flex. Big Namek muscles...yummy... 

Discord didn't answer right away. He eased his legs into the lotus position and frowned lightly, wrinkling his scars. His full lips parted to form, "S'kind of hard to explain. But, essentially, this world...this place....." he looked towards us, following our breathing, "...is what happens if Void wins." 

"What....?" I thought she had something to do with why this place was so desolate. It looked like the cities Mr. Satan wandered through during Buu's attack. Perhaps even a bit worse, as if a riot destroyed what was left. 

Piccolo's frown mirrored Di's. "But how is that possible?" 

Interesting how polar opposite Piccolo and Discord's voices were. Piccolo's all rough and deep and Di's light and smooth, but with a hardness from street life and pain mixed under the surface. I think Tambourine was a tenor too, but he spoke in a whisper so often that I really couldn't tell. 

I snapped back to attention when Di faced Piccolo and spoke up again, "You died a hundred and fifty years ago, Piccolo. And with you, the rest of them as well." He closed his eyes, "When you died, the world began to decay like a rotting corpse." He looked up again, ivory eyes fixing on us in a way that mimicked sight, "What you see around you used to be Satan City." 

Fear made me huddle closer to Piccolo. I followed his forearm down to his clenched fist. His fingers opened to accept my hand and closed protectively around it. His calloused palm was hot and damp with perspiration that always seemed present on his skin. Aside from a slight widening in his eyes, he didn't express any shock. 

"I....see....but I'm dead now. Is this a definite future?" He glanced at me, then back at Di, "Or just a possibility?" 

"Piccolo," I tugged his big hand, "This is another universe, remember those fics I showed you? Ones that couldn't possibly happen?" 

Piccolo's cheeks turned purple. He curled his lip, baring a fang. "Don't remind me, they were embarrassing!" 

Discord tilted his head, "Think of reality as a spill of marbles on a black floor. This is just one marble. You two are from another." 

That explanation was something I understood. Visuals do that to me. That meant there really were an infinite number of Realities out there! Futures, pasts, presents. Some good, some bad, some where we won, some where we lost, but existing nonetheless. 

I brightened, "Like that scene at the end of the Men in Black movie, the marbles with galaxies in them!" 

"Right..." Discord frowned at something, reached back and took his bo from its sheath. He took a cloth from his other pocket and ran it around the length, polishing the fine metal. 

"She made me sit through that infernal movie," Piccolo grumbled, "Worst thing I ever saw. Aliens among humans, tch, they mix as well as blood in water." 

Di made a face. "Oh, buck up. At least it wasn't Pokemon." 

"Poke-what?" 

I made a face too. "Ugh, no, I hate Pokemon." 

Okay, I hate to admit it, but I kind of took advantage of Di's blindness by studying him carefully while he polished his bo. I'm a sucker for details and I wanted to remember him as well as I did Tambourine. 

Discord was sitting in one of the pools of sunlight coming from the window, making his skin seem shiny. He had a young, thin, twenty-something face - boyishly pouty lips and Chinese-looking ivory eyes mixed into the triple scars lining either cheek. He was built like an acrobat, a swimmer, or perhaps even a dancer, lean muscle framing his body...I could tell because I saw a hint of his pecs when he breathed. When he shifted the bo, his sleeves pulled up and I saw a myriad of jagged scars piled up on his ridged inner arms like Jenga blocks. My eyes drifted to his attire...jeans that used to be black, but were gray from constant wear. Old, dingy white shirt worn so thin I almost saw right through it. A duster that'd seen better years, its hem ragged and frayed in some places. And scuffed, black combat boots that lost their shine a long time ago. It made me wonder when he last wore brand new, clean clothes. 

His hands were slimmer than Piccolo's, but fuller than Tambourine's. The tendons and knuckles didn't stand out as much as Piccolo's. I watched them move the cloth over the metal. It was the same loving touch a pianist might use on an old piano they hadn't seen in decades. If I rolled a piano up to Di, he probably would touch it that way....hands like that only belonged on ivory keys and nowhere else. 

I had to smile. Di was daaaaaamn cute. Dania would never believe me if I told her about this. Should I? Heh, I guess she'd find out soon enough. 

Discord paused and raised his head. He seemed to look straight at me, his eyes not cold, but warm like a summer moon. "Take a picture, it'll last longer, ya little fart." Then he grinned, fangs peeking out over his full jade lips. That smile took years off his face, making him look more like a teenager. 

My face lit on fire again and I didn't even have blush on to cover it. I sweatdropped. "I can't help it, I never imagined I'd see you in 3-D." 

Piccolo glanced at me, then shook his head and actually smiled. He, too, looked younger when he grinned. "Females and their hormones." 

"Oh, be quiet, Piccolo!" I poked his pointy nose and grinned when he got all embarrassed. 

"Mm," Di smirked, "I can forgive you this one time. Just don't pinch my ass." 

"Oh, don't worry," I reached over and gave Piccolo's butt a good pinch, "I have a good one to pinch right here." 

"Ow!" Piccolo jumped and glared daggers at me. He HATES it when I do things like that to him in front of other people. 

I just smiled sweetly in Piccolo's face and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. It was worth it to see him blush even more. "Just keeping you on your toes." I said, grinning over at Discord. 

"If you say so," Di sat back and laughed, but his hand didn't stop polishing the bo. He'd moved from the hilt to the blades now, working carefully so he wouldn't cut himself. 

Piccolo just crossed his arms and lowered his head, giving us the stony silence routine. He'd had enough teasing. Any more and he might get violent, so I figured it was best to cool it for awhile. 

Just then the place rumbled. Stone flaked off like dusty tears, ancient rafters creaking, but not falling. White flecks danced in the sunlight pouring in on us. Since I didn't know how bad the shaking would get, I covered my head with both hands. When you live in California like I do, you learn to duck and cover at a young age. If you don't, you might as well invite something to smash you. 

Discord's eyes lidded, paying little mind to the quake. He turned his bo over to polish the other blade. Sunlight bounced violently off the metal, sending a shimmer across his face. 

Piccolo glanced at the bo, also ignoring the miniquake. "How old are you? You seem a bit young to be running around on your own." 

"Twenty three. Give or take a month." 

I looked over, surprised. "I just turned twenty four...and I'll still be living with someone when I'm fifty. I can't live alone." 

"I've been doin' this for thirteen years, Cyndi." Di smiled over at me. 

Piccolo shifted, pulling his hand away from mine. He placed it flat on the ground to balance and leaned back slightly, checking out our surroundings for the first time. Time had passed and the little splotch of sunlight that shined on Di now shined on Piccolo, turning his skin shiny too. The light didn't seem to bother him at all. Reflected colors from the tattered stained glass windows glided across his black eyes as they shifted around. 

"Thirteen years." I gave Piccolo a break and scooted over to plant myself next to Discord. "That's a long time to be alone." 

"I know the feeling," said Piccolo softly. He seemed a little lost in his thoughts. Trying to sort something out. I don't think he felt too comfortable being inside a church like this. 

"Nah," Discord ruffled my hair, messing it up even more, "You get used to it." 

"Gah," I ran a hand over my prickly hair, smoothing it down a little. 

Piccolo exhaled through his nose. His nostrils flared. "Doesn't mean you have to like it, though." He wiped at one eye with his knuckles, probably to get rid of dust or whatever else was in the air. 

Di shrugged. "Void needs a thorn in her side. And I'm that thorn." He smirked. 

I got nauseous. "Yeah, me too..." Crap, here we go again. "Oh God, not again...darn it!" I never curse inside a church unless it slips out by accident, which happens from time to time. When I does I always apologize. I curled up on my side and rested my head on Di's leg, both hands holding my stomach. Right then I loathed the existence of my uterus. It wasn't an organ to hold a baby, it was a toothy alien trying to burst out through my stomach and eat me! It came at me so bad I even felt it in my tail. That was like hell. 

Dust shifted as Piccolo glanced my way and chewed his lower lip, a bit worried. I know he'd never seen me get this bad. But with all the stress from today....stress makes mine worse. That and bumpy car rides. 

"Oh, chill out, I'll live." Rimshot. I couldn't avoid a giggle. 

"That's not funny." 

Discord frowned and passed a smooth hand over my hair. He knew what was wrong without having to see me. "Piccolo, heat up a ball of ki in your hand. Not burning, just warm. Apply it to her abdomen. It's the same as a hot pad." 

I twisted my head around to look up at Di. "He did that earlier, it felt good." I glared at Piccolo, "Well? Get over here, Piccolo!" 

Di just laughed, a pleasant sound, as Piccolo muttered something under his breath and sat down next to me. He placed a hand on my belly just like before. His face was as purple as his gi. 

"The things I do to keep you satisfied..." 

"See, Discord, he lets me push him around." I winced. 

"That's not pushing," said Di nonchalantly, "you've tamed his ass." 

"Maybe I have." 

A warning growl. Liquid black eyes bore into mine, painted red and gold around the edges with reflections of the tabernacle and candle holder behind me. 

I glared right back. "Hey, calm down, we're only teasing!" 

Piccolo glowered at Di and I, "I don't take kindly to being mocked." 

I scoffed, wincing as the heat briefly made my pain worse. "Well at least Tambourine had a better reaction to - " I shut up. Me and my big frigging mouth. Now I'd have to endure even more questions. I really didn't feel like thinking too much. 

Dark eyes narrowed, "Who?" 

I shook my head and looked up at Di, who seemed to be keeping an ear out for trouble. "Looooooooonnnnng story." 

A soft hand touched my hair, then moved away, along with the warmth on my belly. I relaxed completely, still looking up at Discord's young face. Even though he couldn't see me, I didn't look straight into his eyes. "What happens when this dream runs out?" 

Di's gentle hand stopped polishing and put the cloth away. His eyes followed my voice. "I don't know, but...I think you'd better take this." He pushed the bo lying across his hands towards me. 

Sitting up, I scooted forward until our knees touched, grasping the wood and metal beauty like it would break if mistreated. The bo was Di's defensive weapon as well as his cane. Without it, how would he get around? What would he do in a fight? What if's ran through my mind like a cascade of dominoes. "But...what if Void comes back? You won't have a weapon!" 

"I'll be fine. I have a weapon, but you need this...need faith." Discord tilted his head, causing his antennae to sway, "I am not worried about my fate. You see..." he turned his head to the left, facing the only stained glass window still intact. It depicted Jesus standing outside the garden tomb, triumphant over Death. He must've known its position from memory. "...in all tales, good ones, good triumphs over evil. So go kick ass, that's what you're fighting for. Not for yourself, but for us." He let go of the bo completely. "For the ability to dream and the ability to live." 

The bo felt warm from Di's hands and the sunlight. It really was a lovely weapon, as much art as it was dangerous. Yet at the same time it seemed to carry the weight of the world. Years of bloodshed and torment and fear...and hope. And Discord just handed it to me. 

"But, Discord...Di... I worry about you." I reached my free hand out to touch his. Touching him gave me hope in a weird way. I didn't get that chance with Tambourine, in a way I felt like that visit was just a dream. This one was more real. I clutched the bo and stood up. It was a full foot taller than I, but not so heavy that I couldn't wield it with a little practice. "You'll be getting this back when I'm done." 

His lips curled up at the corners. "I know." 

I paused again, holding the bo horizontally in my hands. When polished the steel gleamed almost blue in the sunlight. So bright against the dark wood. Curiosity was killing me. "What's this made of anyway?" 

"Lignum Vitae...it means wood of life. That and steel, mixed with love." 

"It's gorgeous." 

Grit shifted as Piccolo heaved to his feet. Dust and bits of wood fell off his baggy purple leggings. He nodded to Discord and turned, walking out quietly. He hopped a broken pew and disappeared out the battered doors. Discord followed the sound with his eyes. I started thinking it was about time to get going, too...as much as I hated to leave. Void could be waiting outside, ready to pounce once Di was alone. But Discord said I should go, so I faced the door Piccolo just went through. 

"Hey, Cyndi?" 

Turning back, I found Discord on his feet, smirking down at me. "Yeah?" 

Di slipped the rosary over my head, letting it lie against me. The beads rattled as they settled. He snagged me in a hug that lifted me off the ground, then kissed my forehead. His lips were as soft as they looked. "Put that bitch in her place." 

I wrapped an arm around his neck and blushed, surprised. "You bet," I said with determination. "She'll be sorry she ever touched this place." Then, giving him a little fake punch in the chin, I went on to say, "And you really ARE cute in person. Don't let anybody tell you different." 

"Mmph, and this is from a munchkin." Di set me down. 

"Sorry, I don't have any lollipops from the Guild." I smirked up at him. 

He patted the top of my hair, where it was the wildest. "Good God, who ever thought the savior of reality would be a midget porcupine?" 

"....hey!" I tried to look playfully menacing, but that must've been hard to do when I was holding a weapon a whole foot taller than I was. 

Di smiled halfway at me with his hands on his hips. He pointed to the door with his chin. "Go." 

I poked Discord's stomach gently with the bo, but he didn't flinch. "I'll be seeing you." I walked towards the door, carrying the bo in one hand, dull end of a blade dragging gently behind me. It made a soft singing sound on the gritty floor. I stopped halfway, turned back and winked, "Hey, Di, don't forget to Believe." 

"I never stopped." Discord lifted his hand in a two-fingered wave. 

Stupidly, I waved back and continued on to the door. Glanced back once more. Discord turned to the cracked altar and knelt in prayer. Sunlight spilled across his green face. But the glow in his eyes came from within. Hope. He'd be okay as long as he kept that hope locked away in a secret place inside him. 

I smiled at him one more time, turned to the door and stepped out into the mist. Odd how from in the church it seemed bright and sunny, yet it seemed to still exist inside the blue-blackness of the Quantum room. 

Piccolo stood waiting a few feet away with Paikuhan's arm slung over his shoulders. Paikuhan leaned heavily on Piccolo, looking a bit dazed, but otherwise okay. He blinked at me when I appeared. I smiled at them, afraid of what I'd find if I looked over my shoulder...but I did anyway. The battered, battlescarred cathedral had dissolved into mist the same way Tambourine did. It looked like a pillar of smoke in the blackness. Faint color from the stained glass windows gradually faded into silver-gray, then vanished completely. Layer by layer, until I could see a smoky outline of Discord's form still knelt in prayer. Him and the altar were the last things to dissolve. 

"Cyndi?" Piccolo shuffled with Paikuhan to stand next to me. "Are you all right?" 

I looked down. The bo and rosary were still there, just as real as Di was. I hugged the bo to my chest and whipped around to face him. "I know why I'm here now," I said with a fierceness I hoped showed through my eyes, "Tomorrow, I'm going to train my ass off. If you're not up to it, too bad, I'll do it myself." 

A grin split Paikuhan's face. He rubbed a knot on the side of his head, smearing a little red blood. "You sound like a Saiyajin now." 

"Indeed," Piccolo added in a tone I can only describe as approval. He looked over at Paikuhan, "C'mon, let's get you inside. You need rest. You too, Cyndi." 

"Yeah." 

The door creaked open and shut, but I didn't follow right away. I stared into the mist where Di used to be. His bo felt heavy in the strong gravity, but no heavier than the weight of the world. And right then, with all the hope in my body, I felt like I really _could_ lift the world if I had to. Poor Atlas needs a break once in awhile, don't you think? 

Another soft creak. I paid it no mind, the floor always creaked when someone walked inside the living area. Well...I didn't acknowledge it until I got that burning sensation of eyes staring at me. It was Piccolo, standing with one foot on the steps, his arms crossed over his broad chest. "Cyndi?" He came forward and touched the bo, "It didn't fade..." then, fingering the rosary, "strange..." 

I let Piccolo hold the bo. It just looked right in a Namekian's hands. My fingers wandered to the rosary around my neck. Faith and Hope...Discord's message was loud and clear 

"I know. It's not going to." The exhaustion got to me. I sank to my knees. 

"Feh, you poor kid." Piccolo placed to bo back in my hands and scooped me up into his strong arms. Bringing me close to his dusty desert scent. He carried me towards the door. 

I clutched the bo in one hand, wrapping my other arm around his neck. What went with Faith and Hope? I had to say it. 

"Hey, Piccolo?" 

"Yeah?" 

"I love you." 

Piccolo stopped walking completely, tipped my chin up and kissed me. 

Read that again. 

He kissed me without me kissing him first. Full on, eyes closed and head tilted. 

I shut my eyes and melted into it. Time ground to a halt. The mist went still. There was just us and nobody else. The softness of his lips touching mine and the message behind their warmth. 

Such gestures from Piccolo were rare, far between and wonderful. He pulled back after a moment, setting everything spinning again, and stared down at me with the softest look I'd ever seen in his eyes. Something wistful and maybe a bit misty, but when he blinked it was gone again. He made a little 'hmph' sound that sent his breath washing over my face and kept walking, finally plopping me down in bed. 

I was still hugging the bo when I feel asleep. 

Faith, Hope and Love. I think I just found all three. A weapon, armor and a shield. Piccolo, Paikuhan and myself. 

Watch out, Void, we're coming to get you. 


	9. Part Nine

Self insertion and other usual warnings(bad language in this one).   
  
  
  


Believe Again   
Part Nine   
  
"This is amazing craftsmanship." Paikuhan stood at the foot of the bed, holding Di's bo in both hands. He touched the end of a blade with one finger and seemed satisfied when it drew a drop of crimson blood. For a guy who got his head bashed in the night before, Paikuhan looked pretty good. Much better than I expected. Then again, these undead bodies do heal unnaturally fast. "Do you know who made it?" 

"Nope," I said as I leaned over to stretch my calf muscles. "Not sure if Discord made it himself or someone made it for him, but it's almost too pretty to use as a weapon. It'd rather display it on my wall." 

"It's been well-used," Piccolo added from his spot by the wall. He'd been floating there in the lotus position for hours. I think he spent the night watching me sleep. 

"Muchly." Paikuhan handed the bo back and placed a light hand on my shoulder. His pinkish lips curved into a warm smile, "I used a weapon similar to it against Void. I could probably teach you a few tricks. But first you need to build up your stamina. You still tire too quickly on the floor." 

"Yeah, that'd be neat..." I looked down at the bo, at my reflection in the blades. "How can you tell it's been used?" 

Piccolo lowered to stand and came forward. He ran the tip of his finger along a slight depression in the wooden handle. "See this? When someone uses a weapon with a wooden handle long enough, warmth from the hands and grip pressure mold it just slightly. A bit like you would wear in a shoe or a stiff shirt. I'm not surprised you didn't notice," his eyes became faraway, "you have to be a bit familiar with different weapons to know what to look for." 

The faint depression in the handle was about the same size and shape as Discord's fist. Funny, I wouldn't have noticed without it being pointed out to me. 

"Yeah, well..." I blinked at them, amazed even at myself when I said, "why're we still fooly-farting around in here? We've got training to do!" 

"Yes, ma'am!" Paikuhan tapped a fist to his chest in a weird salute and laughed. "You heard the woman, what are we waiting for?" 

Piccolo merely arched a brow at me, "All right, what did you do with the real Cyndi?" But then he smirked and gave my shoulder a gentle pat. "Take the bo with you and walk for awhile. Get used to its weight. You know where to find Paikuhan and I if you get tired or feel ready to join the sparring." 

"Right-o." I hefted the bo over my shoulder, nabbed a Hershey bar from the fridge to get my daily chocolate fix and took off for the door. 

$ 

I got bored with walking and resorted to jogging laps around the living area building. Mind you, it was a big building, about as long as a football field, so it was a very long run. My poor body started complaining about the abuse around four hours later, in the form of muscle cramps and intense thirst. So I took a break and had a long sip from my water bottle. Sat on the steps for a few to watch Piccolo and Paikuhan beat the hell out of each other. 

Twenty minutes later had me bored. I went to the side of the building where Tambourine had appeared that one time, leaned the bo against the wall and went to work trying to figure out that damned Kamehameha wave. I was so close...like...millimeters away from getting the ki to eject from my hands. Something kept stopping it. What was I doing wrong? 

Then I remembered something Paikuhan said earlier: 

_"Your movements, the position of your arms and legs, even your words shape your ki into something tangible."_

Of course! I was only doing the movements, not calling out the syllables! Using ki is almost like....like casting a spell. I could do this. I had to. 

...even though I thought it looked kinda stupid. 

I imitated the stance, focused on pulling my energy up from my feet. A warm, tingly sensation prickled up my legs and into my belly button, then worked its way into my arms and legs. Ready to be used. I brought my arms forward and touched the heels of my hands together, making sure the tips of my fingers pointed to the floor and sky. 

"Ka...." 

Squared my stance and twisted sideways slightly, bending my elbows as if I was pulling the string on a bow and arrow, except I had both hands pulled back. As usual the energy swirled from my wrists to my palms, collecting like rain on a cupped leaf. I almost couldn't stand the tingle. 

"Me..." 

The tingle became unbearable. If I do this after only two days of practice, I'll shut up and change my name to Mary Sue. 

"Ha..." 

I twisted myself even further sideways. Weird pressure kept forming in my stomach and shoulders. I probably could've just imagined a kamehameha expert into the room. But that's abusing its power. The only time I even did it on purpose was when I brought in Discord - granted I didn't PLAN for him to appear, him and his bo just happened to fit the description my mind conjured up for a weapon. 

"Me..." 

New sensation - pressure on my palms. I felt the muscles in my arms tighten. Never had that happen before. I braced my feet and thrust my arms forward. 

"HA!" 

A brief blue-white burst shot from my palms. The backthrust knocked me flat on my butt and I lost it. But I'd done it! I'd fired a kamehameha! A weak, pussified one, but I DID do it! 

You Believers out there may now call me Mary Sue for the duration of this wild adventure. I deserve it. Oh, the shame! 

"I did it! Oh my God! PAIKUHAAAAAAAN! PICCOLOOOOOOO!" I got all excited and raced around the side of the building. "Piccolo! Paikuhan!" 

"What the - " Piccolo lost focus on the spar. Paikuhan CLOBBERED him with a flying kick. Piccolo was up and pressing me against the wall in less than three seconds. If only he realized what he grabbed when he pushed me backwards. "What have I told you about interrupting my spars?! Don't you know it's dangerous?" 

"Ow! You're squishing my boobs!" I pulled backwards a little. "If you wanted to feel me up, you could've asked!" I wiggled my eyebrows and half-grinned at his flustered expression, "Chill out, it's not like you'll get killed. This's important - " 

The Namek bore his teeth. "What's so important that you have to interrupt a spar?" 

Paikuhan calmly settled a hand on Piccolo's shoulder. Their skin was exactly the same shade of green. Eerie. He appeared mildly annoyed at the intrusion as well, but didn't let it show too much. "Relax, Piccolo...did you feel that energy spike a few seconds ago? I think this interruption is warranted." 

"This is coming from a guy who never gets angry." Piccolo scoffed, crossing his arms. He glowered down at me, impatient as ever. "Well? What's this big surprise?" 

"I finally fired off a kamehameha. It sucked and it was weak, but I DID do it. It's why I've been off training by myself, I wanted to see if I could learn it. I saw Goku and them do it a million times and figured I could too." 

"It's dangerous if you can't control it. You can barely control your _gekidoshinku_ move." Piccolo relaxed. He frowned slightly, a little bruised from the kick in the face. "And controlling a new attack neither of us know is not something we can teach you - " 

I got huffy. "If I can learn to do it, I think I can learn to control it." 

Paikuhan tapped his chin with one finger, faced me and arched a brow. "Why not show us?" 

"I'll try." I said, assuming the stance. 

Remember when you were little, you'd do this awesome trick and go run to your parents to tell them, but then when you go to do it for them, you can't do it again? The same thing happened to me right there. It was like drawing a really awesome picture and then not being able to draw another really cool one right afterwards. I must've wiped myself out with the first kamehameha wave. Why did I always poop out at the worst times possible? 

I went on for twenty minutes without success. Both Piccolo and Paikuhan looked mildly doubtful. 

And as usual, I got frustrated. "Well I DID do it! I don't know why the hell I can't do it again!" 

"I believe you. It took me almost a year to master my Thunder Flash attack. And from what Piccolo told me, he took four years to create his _makankosappo_." 

"And you took almost a month to figure out your _gekidoshinku_ move, kid, which is a very simple ki trick." Piccolo stood up, expressionless as usual. "I don't see why you can't try something a little harder than you're used to." 

Paikuhan blinked and squinted over at Piccolo, "I don't believe I've seen that _gekidoshinku_ you spoke of." 

Piccolo shook his head. "Trust me, it hurts." 

I hunched my shoulders, remembering with shame the last time I nailed Piccolo with that. Almost killed him. Such couldn't happen here, but...still...I was afraid to use it in close combat spars. But if Void ever shows her ugly face again, I swear she's getting red lighting flashed straight up her oily ass. 

"Hey, Paikuhan, why don't we go see if I can stand up to Thunder Flash? S'not like it'll kill me if I don't block it." 

Piccolo and Paikuhan glanced at each other, exchanging odd looks. Sometimes I wonder if they were sending telepathic messages and keeping me out. It started to bother me, but I didn't say anything. Except for shooting them both a mild glare. 

My impatience got the better of me. I went from a mild glare to daggers in about two seconds. "Yo, don't go easy on me just because I'm a girl, okay? Now unless you want me to go off and sit on my ass, let's start sparring. And I'll start with trying to hold my own against Paikuhan's big move." 

Piccolo heaved a sigh that moved his shoulders up and down. He did NOT look pleased with me. "Fine, but I'm standing back in case something goes wrong. That move is intense." 

"Alrightey then." I about-faced and walked off into the mist, followed by two very reluctant green men. 

"The smart thing to do is start powering up now. You really don't want this to catch you off-guard," said Paikuhan, smiling at me with his eyes more than his mouth. He does that all the time to me, it's cute. 

His look made me giggle. "I got it, same to you against my move. It can be pretty widespread, especially since I haven't done it in a long time. Gimme a minute to power up here." I squared my stance and called upon the more familiar ki of my signature attack. Powering up for the _gekidoshinku_ was a lot different than a kamehameha wave. Because it was an electrical-based attack, it made me tingle and caused the hairs on my arms to stand up. As if my body was one giant neuron firing electrical signals all over the place. 

"Thunder..." Paikuhan started his little Thunder Flash dance. Honestly, it looks like he's dancing when he powers it up. He muttered the incantation that went with it, face fierce and laced in concentration. "Flash..." 

I had to jump into Super Saiyajin mode just to keep up with his rising energy. I held my hands up and watched the little red ball grow while Paikuhan drew back, ready to fire off his spiraling fireball. I grinned wickedly. This was going to be fun. I took great pleasure in the tingling almost-pain racing down my arms. As if my body was full of electrical wires instead of blood vessels. 

Paikuhan did his final sway. I passed my hands through the large red sphere. 

"....Attack!" 

"_Gekidoshinku!_" 

Paikuhan's spiral of fire met my splayed lightning bolts. 

And blasted right through like they were nothing. I might as well have not thrown anything at all for all the good it did. 

Shit. 

On TV it's slowed down a whole lot so you can see it. I only had time to notice my attack was nothing against it. Blistering heat swept over, around and through me. I felt like my skin was coming off, a horrible feeling I can't even describe. All became numbness. I heard Piccolo shouting something that sounded like "Stop, STOP!" 

Then all faded to oblivion. 

$ 

Paikuhan's voice came to me dimly. He sounded mildly upset. "She just froze, I didn't have time to pull it back." 

"One of her worst habits in battle. Surprise gets to her. She freezes." Piccolo replied, "I need to teach her how to erect a ki shield in cases like this. At least she won't sit there like an idiot and get hit." 

We were back in the living area. Me on the bed, Piccolo and Paikuhan standing off to the side, talking. How could I tell? I didn't feel like I had a million extra pounds trying to crush me into the floor. 

My head ached, hell, even my hair hurt. I felt pain in places I didn't know existed. I struggled to remember what happened and why I was there, but my memory was foggy. All I recalled was this fricken huge-ass fireball coming at my face. I would've done better at remembering if those two weren't babbling about me like I wasn't even there. 

"Sh-shut u-up..." I tried to talk, but my throat felt like I'd swallowed sand. It made me cough. "Water." 

Two presences came to either side of my bed, but I didn't open my eyes to look. 

Paikuan's voice from the left, "I'll get it. Stay with her." 

"Mmh." Piccolo grunted on the right, but I felt his hand brush lightly through my hair. "Poor kid, I guess I should've warned you about that move." 

"Bite me, you knew I'd get my ass nailed. You just..." I had another coughing fit, "...love to pop my ego, don't you?" 

"Keeps it from getting bigger than Vegeta's." 

More coughing. "You suck." 

Piccolo shifted around a bit, emitting a little grunt-sigh. I'd gotten so used to his little sounds that I knew, without looking, that he was settling into the lotus position next to the bed. "Paikuhan's coming with your water. He's also going to explain what his attack did to you. Listen close and don't interrupt." 

"I'm what? Oh, right..." Slimmer hands lifted my head and tipped the glass to my mouth. 

I proceeded to drink like a dehydrated camel in the middle of a desert. Cold water never tasted so good. I sank back after I finished, licking my lips as I opened my eyes. Aside from a few "blank" spaces in my vision, all seemed okay. Great, I think that blast triggered a migraine. I just hoped the headache wasn't going to follow. "Now what do you have to explain?" 

"Thunder Flash is a harsh attack. It disrupts the nervous system if you're not prepared when it hits. Goku could handle it because he was considerably stronger...and larger...than you." Paikuhan sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't sound overly-dismayed, just mildly concerned. "You'll be all right by tomorrow, but until your body heals up, you'll be paralyzed and have sensory disruptions. Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch may not work quite right." 

"I hear just fine, but I can't see straight...looks like things do when I'm getting a migraine." I tried to move my arm. Might as well be trying to will someone else's arm to move for all the good that did. "Fricken great, why is it whenever I get up a good steam in training, something happens to lay me up for the rest of the day?" 

"Perhaps - " 

Piccolo snorted and said, "It hurts, doesn't it? If you weren't so arrogant, you wouldn't be here now, would you?" 

Paikuhan frowned, shifting to look at Piccolo. The tassels on his tall hat fell over his shoulder. "Piccolo, isn't that a little harsh?" 

"Not for this one. Telling doesn't work, you have to show her." I could hear the smirk in his voice, it made me want to slap him. "Figured she'd be used to it by now. I guess I was wrong." 

I turned my head and snarled, "Piccolo....when I can move my legs again, I swear I'm going to kick your ass all over Otherworld." 

A deep chuckle, "I'd like to see you try, squirt." 

"Hey, both of you, stop it." Paikuhan released a long, drawn out sigh. I saw a patch of blue from his shirt move up towards his face. His hand disappeared and reappeared as it moved through a blank spot in my vision. "We all could use some rest, I think. It's been a very, very long few hours." 

Piccolo rumbled wordlessly. Paikuhan nodded to him and his footsteps pattered out. The door clicked gently shut. 

I guess Piccolo was waiting for him to leave. As soon as we were alone, he spoke up in a low tone, "You sure seem to enjoy your time with Paikuhan. I don't like how you two look at each other." 

"Oh good grief," I scoffed, "he was just being friendly. People aren't allowed to smile at each other? You never bothered me when Freeza and I goofed off together." 

"Feh. Freeza was married." He hissed contemptuously, "and what about the way you were hanging on Discord? You were acting like...like you did when we first met. I wouldn't have been surprised if you'd started salivating like a rabid animal with the way you were looking at him." 

"Oh, my God, Piccolo?" I twisted my head around to stare at him. Maybe my ears were tricking me, did Piccolo really say that? "You're _jealous_, aren't you?" 

Piccolo's eyes widened. He looked away and curled his lip. "Nonsense! I just...I...." Watching him stutter was hilarious, "I don't like the way they looked at you, okay?!" 

"You silly Namek!" Laughter tickled my voice. "First of all, Paikuhan is celibate, that means he doesn't and never did get involved with or have sex with anyone. And Discord can't look at me, he's blind...in case you didn't notice." That made Piccolo blink at me, he obviously didn't notice. I went on, "And for all I know he could've been more interested in you than me. As for me and Paikuhan, well, we're buddies. New buddies, but still buddies. Is that so wrong?" 

Stony silence, followed by a cool glare. I met Piccolo's smoldering, narrowed eyes and couldn't avoid a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. He looked so pissed at me with his fangs bared and snarl lines forming on his pointed nose. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy pushing his buttons that time. The result was absolutely hysterical! 

"It's a good thing you're already green, Piccolo....that's all I can say." I giggled like mad, "You don't have to worry about competition, okay? I might crush on a few other people, but you'll always come first." 

Piccolo seethed in silence for a long time. "I am _not_ jealous." 

"Are too." I grinned. 

"Am not!" He snarled. 

"Are too." 

"Am not!" 

"Am not." 

"Are too!" 

"Gotcha." 

Piccolo half-stood, "Shut up!" 

I looked up at him. He looked down at me. Neither of us could keep a straight face anymore...so we both laughed. Yes, Piccolo _laughed_. It's a wonderful, wonderful sound, like thunder echoing off mountainsides and bounding down to my ears. His face must've lost ten years. We laughed like a couple of idiots until we were exhausted, flush-faced and gasping. My sides ached, but it was worth it to see and hear Piccolo crack up. I don't think he's ever laughed that hard before. 

Then I had another problem. 

"Uhh, Piccolo?" 

"Yeah?" 

"I um....I gotta pee. Help?" 

Piccolo made a big show of sighing, gone from amused to annoyed in half a second. But he picked me up and carried me to the bathroom. "The things I have to put up with when you show up..." 

I made a face at him. "You know you like it." 

He put me down on the toilet and yanked my pants off. "This is not what I had in mind." 

I rolled my eyes. Piccolo had to hold me up so I wouldn't fall over. I did my business and tried not to blush when he took care of the rest. "I think it's kinda kinky. If I could move, I'd grab your ass right now." 

Piccolo's handsome face dissolved into a smirk. He looked down his nose at me. I think he winked, but I can't be sure. "Then I'm glad you can't. I've had enough of your pinching and spanking for one lifetime." 

"Asshat." I headbutted him lightly, "Just wait till tomorrow. You're gonna be soooooo sorry." 

"....feh." Piccolo headbutted me right back. Hard. He was wearing his turban, so it hurt! "We'll see about that." 


	10. Part Ten

Self insertion, adult content(coughLIMEcough) and other usual warnings. I love revenge! X3 

A bazillion million glomps and loves to Velasa for letting me put her baby, Lute, in this chapter! He's an awesome guy, just like Tambourine and Discord. Like the others before, Jen and I RPed out the scene and then I took and wrote it in my own words. This trick works like a charm. Jen, I can't thank you enough! Everybody go check out Velasa's fics, they rock!

Apologies for the long-ass delay. Had writer's block and was doing a lot of RPing. Still am really...but here's another chapter anyway! Best read with a nice, big bowl of popcorn and a can of your favorite drink. -winks- 

Believe Again   
Part Ten

Revenge.

What's the old saying about revenge?

It's a dish best served cold.

Odd how it tastes better watching someone else eat it. And I was about to shove Piccolo's face in every bite.

As soon as I could move again(took a good four hours just to wiggle my pinkie, two more to move my legs!), I climbed out of bed, packed a few rolled up fanfics by my friend Jen in my pocket and crept over to the bed where Piccolo reclined comfortably. He looked so peaceful that I almost felt bad about what I was going to do.

Almost.

Trying hard not to snicker out loud, I slipped Piccolo's water flask off the nightstand and dashed into the bathroom to empty it in the sink. Tip-toed back out to the fridge for chocolate milk. I had a theory I wanted to test out, but there was no way to get Piccolo to willingly ingest chocolate. Not unless I forced the issue like the evil little bitch I am. I just hoped he drank some before he realized it wasn't water and spat it back out.

"This should be good." I slipped the flask back where I found it, picked up the bo and headed out onto the Quantum floor. Thinking Reality until everything faded from Anime to flesh and blood. I felt heat in my chest as the bauble I'd absorbed forced my body to remain Saiyajin even though I was Real. If chocolate did what I'd heard it did to Nameks, I'd need my strength.

I grinned, took out the fanfics I'd printed and read while I waited for the fireworks to begin.

No less than half an hour after I tainted Piccolo's flask, I saw him emerge through the door. His form faded from Anime to Real as he stepped on the fighting floor and glanced around for me. I quickly pretended I'd been doing push-ups and straightened, wiping imaginary sweat off my forehead.

"Morning!" I called.

Piccolo didn't look any different than he should when Real - gorgeous gray eyes, boyish lips and a body to die for. My eyes wandered down and...mmhmm...the chocolate did do what I thought it would. Even with his strong emotional control, Piccolo was still a man here.

This WOULD be fun.

I covered a wicked grin with my hand and ducked down into the mist to continue my 'push-ups'. "Sleep good?"

"Fine." Piccolo answered gruffly. He walked forward, mist swirling around his legs, and held his flask out in my face. "Mind telling me what you put in this, though?"

"Oh..." I wiped my hair back and fluffed it a bit. I'd purposely dressed myself in a halter top and shorts to show as much skin as possible without being obscene. Not that I had much to show, but it made me feel naughty. Hey, who said I had to make this easy on him anyway? "Just a little chocolate milk. Thought maybe you'd need a bigger jolt to help you wake up."

Piccolo turned towards me and glared. He was shaking! I could see his antennae quivering! "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Um," I looked down at the massive tent in his pants and struggled not to burst into hysterics. "yyyyeah. Now watch where you point that thing before you poke my eye out!"

"So you DID do this on purpose. I should've guessed." He turned the flask over to dump the brown chocolate milk out on the floor.

Too much temptation. I grabbed Piccolo _there_, grinning up at his wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression. If I get through this in one piece, it'll probably be one of the most hilarious moments I've ever shared with him. "Revenge is a bitch, isn't it? And now I've got you by the nads. What do you have to say about it?"

"I...I..."

"Sorry sounds good. Say you're sorry for earlier." I smiled up at him.

Piccolo growled and bit his lip. The best part of this? I don't think he knew he could take care of this little problem all by himself. He was completely at my mercy. It made me feel a little guilty, taking away some of his dignity, but the laugh factor was honestly worth it.

A slender green hand touched my hair lightly. Next thing I knew, I was pinned to his side like a football while he smelled my hair. The lust was going to his brain, eating away at all his rational thought.

"But there's a hole in your plan, Cyndi..." Piccolo's voice came out husky, "you see, you're still a Saiyajin. And you still have a weak spot. Right here." Then he reached down and touched my tail.

Oh...my...God...I thought I'd died - oh wait, I already had died and gone to Heaven. Let's just say it felt amazing. Like being stroked elsewhere with velvet gloves. I arched against his hand like happy kitten, purring.

"Why is it..." I panted, "...that every time I try to get you, it backfires?"

He smirked. "You haven't practiced enough."

"Maybe I should start." I rounded on Piccolo and climbed him like a tree.

Piccolo was so incredibly stiff that I sat on it like I would a tree branch, wrapped my arms around his neck and covered his mouth with mine. I don't care what Piccolo says, kisses drive him up the wall. I know this. He knows I know this. The only difference between this time and the times before was...this time I didn't have to dig at him to get a positive response. He kissed me right back like it was the end of the universe. His hands were in my hair, on my back, anywhere he could reach without dropping me. His fangs scraped against my lips. I kept biting his tongue by accident. Not that I complained, it was wonderful, bloody mouth and all.

Actually, Piccolo tasted more like chocolate milk than blood. Yum, yum.

We pulled back after a moment. If we were living, we'd be panting right now. Piccolo had some of my merlot-red lipstick smeared on and around his mouth. I'm sure it was all smeared on my face too. So much for "stay put" lipcolor.

I grinned and met Piccolo's eyes. They were dilated and glazed, two windows open to let me in. "You're blushing."

"It's your fault." His lip quirked. "And you should talk."

I playfully rolled my eyes and pulled my shirt off over my head, then hopped down to climb out of my shorts. "Just shut up and take your clothes off already."

Piccolo eyed me with...mischief? He was frowning deeply, but half his mouth formed a smile that crinkled his eyes. "No." He pinned me to the floor, his enormous weight aided by the gravity. Made me glad he was sans his cape and turban. We were in perfect position to - you know - or would've been if he'd taken his clothes off. "I'm not ready yet."

I shivered as his clothes brushed me in a few sensitive places. He was torturing me right back! And he knew it.

Meow, baby. Me-freaking-ow.

"Okay, this is scary. Who taught you to act like this?"

Piccolo pulled his head back to look down at me. His face turned really purple. "I read a few books. Curious, I guess, to see why you crazy humans consider such an act so important."

"That's not like you." I grinned in his face, reached down and smacked his butt. "But I'm not complaining. Are you going to get naked or not?"

This time he really grinned, revealing all four of his gleaming fangs. "I'm still not ready yet," he said in a mocking tone.

"You suck."

He chuckled and bent down. Our mouths mashed together. We groped and grabbed at each other like a pair of horny teenagers in the back seat of a car. I had to stop Piccolo a few times when he got too rough...hell, he had to stop me too. I went completely fangirl and threw myself at him. I told him when he hit my sweet spots and he let me know when I found his. We discovered each other all over again.

I got so worked up that I couldn't even think straight. My Saiyajin instincts were screaming at me to get it over with. I needed release. But Piccolo would push my hands away when I reached for his clothes. Finally my patience wore thin. I grabbed Piccolo's shirt and started pulling it off, teasing, "If you still say you're not ready, I'm going to smack you. Why are you being such an ass about this?"

Piccolo scooted out of his shirt, sat up and crossed his arms, mock-glaring down at me. "Are you still able to think straight?"

"Not really. You KNOW I can't think when I'm in this state."

"Good. Now you know what you put me through." He winked slowly, "Revenge is a bitch, isn't it?"

"Yes it is, and so am I."

"I know." With that, Piccolo untied his belt, dropped his pants and crossed his arms. The fabric fell away from his green skin and pooled on the ground behind him. He was like a Grecian god towering over me in the mist. A massive green and pink mountain of flesh, bone and desire. Dear God of all that is good and wonderful, that Namek is BEAUTIFUL. I looked at his...you know...and began to wonder how the hell he fit it in me at all. He's big all over!

Piccolo looked down too. His eyes moved from himself to me. A smirk formed on his lips. "Well, I'm naked, what are you going to do with me?"

I crawled to his feet and kissed them, his dusty desert scent swirling into my nostrils. "I'm going to love you with all my heart." I kissed my way up one leg and down the other. Back up over his hips and stomach. Then I climbed him and kissed my way from his chest to his face. Teased his ears and finally took his antennae into my mouth. He tasted salty like dried sweat.

Piccolo's blush deepened. He caught my tail and stroked it. My body tingled on the edge of...of something wonderful. He smirked in my face, grabbed the back of my head and caught me in a bruising kiss. The world shifted and I found myself once again pinned under his massive weight. Hyper sensitive to his bare skin. Extremely aware of our closeness. Lost in his warmth. Relishing in the feel of his long, muscular body.

I rubbed my hands over every hollow, crease, curve and line I could reach. Piccolo did the same back to me. Our eyes never broke contact, a record for me - usually when I stare into someone's eyes I feel like they can tell what I'm thinking. But with Piccolo...I didn't care. He's seen me naked, why not let him all the way in?

I told him, silently, that it was time. Piccolo grasped me roughly, his face serious, but caring. The space between us disappeared and we made frantic love. No gentle stuff, we were like rabid animals. Grabbing, groping, sucking, kissing, licking, biting and scratching anything within reach. It was dirty, hardcore and rough. We put X-rated movies to shame with the contortions we did. Despite being a Saiyajin and able to "take" more, Piccolo was wilder than I'd ever seen him. He was so rough I screamed at him to ease up a little.

My feet were straight up in the air, my lipstick was smeared, I probably had B.O. and I was moaning like a two-dollar whore, but I didn't give a damn. I didn't care about anything other than his body against mine. Piccolo had hideous veins forming on his temples and arms. He was all sweaty, smelly, scratched up, drooling and growling low in his throat. Not very attractive, trust me, but I don't think he cared about what he looked or sounded like either.

It was a joy watching him move. Pure joy. All those muscles moving under his taut skin. His bared fangs and fierce gray eyes gleaming as he reached completion and silently claimed me as his own. He sighed as he relaxed into my open arms, sweaty and satisfied. His heart throbbed near mine. It didn't beat for long, I think the heat of the moment made both of our hearts pound, but it was wonderful feeling it again.

Sore, scratched and bruised, but satisfied as well, I rubbed his back and petted his head. If I was a smoking woman, and I'm not, I would've lit a cigarette. "That was...awesome," I panted. "Mindblowing. I didn't know you had it in you, Piccolo. Send me whatever books you read, they must've been good."

"Mmh...s'all your fricken fault, kid." Piccolo eyed me sleepily. His deep, sexy voice was right in my ear. "That damn chocolate - "

"I honestly did NOT know you could bend that way." I giggled in his face, "Just don't change your name to Ron Jeremy, okay?"

He arched a brow, his eyes drooping. "...who?"

"An ugly, hairy porn star...ah forget it." I massaged the bases of his antennae, smiling when he actually purred out loud. Well, not purr, more like a low thrumming hum deep in his throat. That's funny, I make little noises when I'm really happy too...it frightens me how alike he and I are. "Hey, Piccolo?"

"Mm?"

"You're not mad at me for this, are you?"

Silence, then, "You'll find out when we spar later."

I stopped picturing him real because my mind was tired from the exertion. Oddly he stayed in me, leading me to wonder if he was keeping that one extra part just a little longer. It was still odd watching his features change from soft curves to sharp lines. He didn't feel any different though, which I was glad for.

"Piccolo?" I prodded him a little to keep him awake. "Last one..."

He exhaled, "Mmmshoot."

"Do you love me?"

Piccolo blinked twice, "huh?"

"Do you?"

His eyes fluttered. "Mmhmm..." and then he was asleep. He was one of those types that fell asleep after making love, regardless of how tough he is or how much he slept before. I just smiled and kept kissing and petting him while he slept in my arms. Did he answer me for real or was he just making noises as he drifted off? My mind held on to the belief that he'd said yes. Yes that he did love me.

Can you believe that whole mess took only fifteen minutes? It was the most frantic, insane thing I'd ever done. I just hoped Piccolo wasn't planning to splatter me across the floor when he woke up.

I didn't fall asleep after all that, but I didn't want to get up either. Not when I had a hot, sexy Namek sleeping on top of me. Piccolo is heavy as hell when he's a dead weight. I wouldn't have been able to get up without waking him first, which would've sucked if I was alive because I would've been forced to push him off so I could breathe. And I didn't want to do that. So I settled back, stroked his smooth cheek and thought deeply about that fic I'd been reading.

Heh, you'd think I'd learn not to daydream on the Quantum floor, but sometimes I just can't help it.

As was typical when I daydreamed, I zoned out and stared off to the side over Piccolo's head. I look like a moron when I do that, so I try to keep my mouth closed in public. But here? I thought nobody'd see me.

After a few minutes of this I felt something cold tickling my ear. You know that feeling when someone plays with the fuzz on your skin? Like that, but cold. I blinked and snapped out of my thoughts to wipe at my face and remove the source of the chill. And found myself staring at a youngish green face, which was hovering perfectly still and wore a huge toothy grin.

I jerked back in surprise, "What the hell!"

My movements disturbed Piccolo just enough to make him roll off me, but he didn't wake up. I didn't even noticed he'd moved.

The new figure looked up from where he was kneeling, one emerald green eye open and creased with a smile. "You're fun."

Namek...one eye shut...who did I know that did that?

"...Lute?"

The grin widened and he hopped lightly to his feet, folding his arms behind his back. A pair of gold, shimmering wings hovered over his shoulders. They seemed barely real, detached, nothing like normal wings like you'd see on a bird. Almost non-coporal.

I jumped to my feet. Should've known better when I felt the cold draft. The mist covered a lot, but still, DUH! "But how did you get here?"

Lute didn't reply at first, he just kind of blinked at me. He seemed so young, his green face tilted at the ends with a warm little smile. "How do y'think, silly?" He reached a hand up to tap the side of his head.

"But I just barely thought about you and..." I looked down at my feet and turned ten shades of red. Oh my God, I was still naked! BARE ASS NAKED in front of another man! I instantly felt mortified. It was almost as bad as the time I jumped out of bed naked in front of Vegeta. My face burned and I wanted to shrink to nothingness. "Oh, shit." I dove back into the mist for my clothes, Lute laughing at me the entire way.

"Do ya really get THAT scatterbrained? I was wondering how long you'd wait."

I had to pick Piccolo's leg up off my shirt. I felt so embarrassed I almost couldn't stand up after I'd made myself decent again. My choice of meager clothing didn't help. What I had on didn't cover much. "Oh, be quiet or I'll sit on your head!"

Lute made a face, "I'd like to see you reach it first."

I fluffed my hair and walked over to stand in front of him, peering up. He was about Di's height - shorter than Piccolo, but still pretty tall. "This's amazing. I wasn't even thinking that hard this time. Must not take much..." I reached out to touch him and see if he was really there or not. My hand encountered something concrete, though the skin was cold as ice. Lute's dead, so it's no surprise there. Drawing back after I satisfied my curiosity, I went on, "Not like you're a giant. I could reach your head easy!"

"Uuuuhuh...sure." A mock scowl passed over his face. He reached over and prodded the end of my nose with a long nail. "I'm not a midget either, midget."

I wiggled my nose at him, "You're about the same size as Discord." I hopped up into the air and perched atop his head like I belonged there. "And don't call me a midget!" A grin, "though I gotta admit, everybody's a lot bigger in person."

Lute looked up, "What'd you expect?"

"Sometimes I don't judge size well unless I've seen it for myself." I shrugged and peered down at him. His head was a lot harder in person. Or maybe my bony ass was biting me. I never could sit on hard surfaces for very long, my butt is so bony that the bone starts to dig at the skin from inside after awhile. "This...this doesn't work as well as it does in chats. Either my butt's bony or you have a hard head."

"Definitely both." Lute suddenly ducked and I found myself slipping off the top of his head.

"Hey!"

But his arms caught me before my butt met the ground.

"Oy, warning next time, okay?" As I dangled like a ragdoll from his hands. I must've weighed less than a kitten to him.

Lute's eye twinkled with amusement, "but it's no fun that way!" Then he pulled me in and hugged me against his chest. We're such good buddies in the roleplay realm that we hug and cuddle each other all the time. It...it just felt weird to really do it. His skin was so cold that I kept getting goosebumps.

"Only you would say that, ya goof." I watched him slouch a bit and saw the shimmer of gold and sapphire over his shoulders. Those magnificent wings of his. Finally I could look closely at them.

They barely looked real, even though the rest of him had taken on a real form. The wings stayed the same - glowing curls like clouds with tendrils hanging down. Swirling, shimmering blue in the center, gold on the outside. Lute's wings reached almost to his back, but not quite attached. I could probably fit my hand between his wings and his shoulderblades. Those wings - they're his soul. Touching them always caused him great agony and I learned that the hard way when we first met over a year ago. Only one person could touch them - another character I never got to meet.

I reached out, but pulled back. "They're gorgeous."

"Mh?"

"Your wings."

Lute looked back, blinking with his left eye. He made them shift and they seemed to move without me noticing they moved. Kinda like how Tambourine walked. One second they were at an angle and the next they were spread out in full splendor before me. "Mmh." A crease formed between his brow ridges. "A pain in the butt, though."

I glanced back at Piccolo to see if all this noise had woken him up or not. Scared that he'd get mad at me if he caught me talking to yet another visitor conjured from my imagination. I moved a few more feet away from him. Man, Jen would NEVER believe this. I was gonna have fun telling her about this part. That is, if she doesn't read this first. Then I'll REALLY have some explaining to do! My, oh my...

Lute's emerald eye followed me. Then he did so bodily, his bare feet stirring the mist and his wings casting a faint glow behind him.

My face flushed warm. "How much did you see?"

He shrugged. "What didn't I?"

"Uh..." I winced. "N-nevermind."

Folding his arms behind his head, Lute shifted his weight to one leg and tapped the other foot. His brown sweatpants came dangerously close to falling off his hips, but remained in place by the power of the drawstring alone. I couldn't help but stare at his young, oval face. Don't know the full story on how he was born and all, but Piccolo is sort of his father. He also has a mother. No, really he does! By the look of him he seemed to take after her in looks, though he did have Piccolo's ears...he really was a cute guy. Very boyish-looking.

"Ya know, I'm starting to enjoy this room. I mean...I'm starting to not want to leave anymore."

That shiny eye fixed back onto me. "S'that so?"

I stared at the sky, kind of half in thought. "Well...I know I have to, but I don't want to."

The green foot stopped its tapping. Lute tilted his head to the side and stopped moving completely. He just hovered there, utterly still. Like a statue. He made a soft, disapproving noise in his throat. Half sigh, half grunt.

I caught myself facing him with my arms crossed. Blame that new habit on Piccolo.

But my eyes were drawn behind Lute. There was faint movement in the mist. Just the faintest, slightest disruption like a cloud changing shape or fog dribbling through lighter air. What the heck? I wasn't doing that!

_Wait, can the people I bring here also affect the room? But how? Is this really safe? Maybe I should send him back. But I don't want to...I mean I know he still exists there, but how do I know if he sees and breathes and has the same free will back in whatever place he comes from? What if...what if he's in oblivion?_

Yet I kept looking at him, or around him anyway. What was that? Damn my lazy right eye, it screwed with my distance vision in this stupid fog!

Lute's face went blank. His body became still. Even more still than before, he didn't even bob up and down in the air where he was floating. It was very eerie. Lute is prone to dangerous mood swings and I began to worry for my safety. He could go psycho on me...or start clawing himself until his purple blood ran like rivers. I didn't know which was worse.

"Lute?" I caught myself wagging my Saiyajin tail. Piccolo hates it when I do that, he once said I look like a deranged puppy. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

No answer. His entire demeanor had changed. The happy, playful, silly aura about him was gone.

"Works both ways, ya know." Those eyes fixed on me. Both open now. One had light, the other didn't...and when Lute has both eyes open it means he's unhappy. Don't ask me to explain, it's just how he is. "Y'ever think of that?"

Cue my idiocy. "What works both ways?"

"This. This dreaming. You ever think of that?" He gestured around us. At the swirling, moving mist. Where it barely moved before, I noticed it curled around us like a slow motion tornado. We were in the only clear spot. I couldn't even see Piccolo anymore.

Oh, duh! "Yeah, I think anybody who stands on this floor can bring anything they want to life. But I don't think Void knew that and - "

"Who else's been here?" Lute trapped me in a serious gaze.

"Tambourine, Bo, Di...and now you." I met his eyes. "Oh, and Void once, but she left, as did the others."

And in a snap of movement Lute was right in my face. I just blinked and suddenly his eyes were right there in front of me, and they weren't the same eyes I was looking at before. You know how normally when someone stares right into your eyes, their eyeballs move back and forth to stay centered? His didn't do that. They were fixed straight on me as still and stony as the eyes on a sculpture or in a photograph. One alive and shiny, the other dark and cold.

"This isn't life, Cyndi." He was so close I felt his cold breath. Cold, not warm, and completely without a scent.

I jerked back from those shocking emerald eyes. Nervous as hell, I kept inching away. Hoping Lute would get the hint and at least back off a few inches. "I know that. Everybody in here's dead."

His eyes didn't move. "So will everybody else out there be if you stay. Your Believers, your family, your friends..."

"I'm not going to stay!" I squeaked. My hair bristled, "I said I want to, doesn't mean I'm going to."

"Oh, but _why_ leave this wish-fulfillment?" Lute threw his arms up in the air and flared his golden wings. His voice grew darker and grave, boiling with sarcasm. "Isn't it the happiest place you've ever seen? Anything you want, BOOM! Everything you've ever desired, anyone you've ever known. BOOM! It's all right here!" He pressed his finger against the middle of my forehead with just enough force to push my head back. "Right here. You feel that?"

I shrank away from his touch. Okay now he was starting to scare me. I bet if I had a pulse it'd be racing about now. "I-I have people to save, Lute..."

"But they can be HERE!" Lute exploded. He put his hand in front of my face and snapped his long fingers. "Just like that!"

That reminded me...I knew what he was getting at. Lute's been through some horrible losses in his lifetime. He died by suicide and couldn't forgive himself, so he exists like this, unable to let go. And the people he wanted back couldn't come back. Not even to this fantastic place where any dream could become reality. It had to be horrible for him. So horrible and lonely.

"And in the process, your mind goes poof."

The Namek before me rocked back and screamed, "But it's so much **_FUN!_**"

Now I couldn't tell if he was just being sarcastically funny or having a serious meltdown. Nobody said I was an expert at reading people. And reading text in an IM window is, as I've said before, radically different than actually seeing these things. I caught myself taking another step away from him. "Lute, chill. Please."

Lute crouched like he was stalking, wings arched and his dead right eye burning through me. He looked like a panther about to pounce. "Make some ice then," he sneered and narrowed his eyes, "Go ahead. Chill. Ice."

But I didn't say anything. Didn't move, didn't blink. I just stared at him like he was going to eat me. Lute wasn't just bright blue text in an IM window - he was really here. He could seriously hurt me if he went completely psycho. Tear me to shreds and fling my guts into the wind like nothing, and I'd have to hurt or destroy him to protect myself. I don't want to do that.

Snarling, Lute clutched his head with one hand and sank to sit. The tassels on his wings spread out on the ground around him like ethereal gold ribbons. It was kind of pretty to look at.

He looked so sad. I walked cautiously towards him, stopping only a few inches away. "Are you okay?" Dumb question. But I didn't know how or what else to ask.

His hand trembled. I could see the veins in his arm all flushed and pulsing as his fist tightened to block the blood flow completely. It was kind of gross and scared me. Was he going to start slashing himself up? Was he going to cut me to pieces? I braced myself to see blood, his or mine I didn't know. But the fist relaxed. He slouched, staring at the ground. The mist continued to swirl around us like the breath of a ghost.

My hand found its way to Lute's shoulder. "It's not fair."

"Fair is a carnival," came the mumble from Lute's lips. He sounded so sad. Defeated...depressed...hopeless... "So let's get some popcorn."

"Feh, there isn't any." But I thought about popcorn and instantly a bag appeared. Fresh popped like from a movie theater. Oops, dammit! I blushed and tried to magic it away. It wouldn't disappear.

Lute raised an eyeridge. His right eye was closed again and he looked at the bag with the left one. The one with life and light. Something of a wry grin curled his boyish lips. "I told'ya."

"That...that was an accident."

"Well, make the best of it." He sighed, "Might as well. It looks good. Tell me how it tastes."

"Why don't you - " Oh, wait, Lute can't taste anymore. He could chug Japanese _sake_ and it'd be like water to him. He could probably suck jalapenos and not bat an eye. God, what would life be like if I couldn't taste chocolate? Or the hot salt of Piccolo's lips? Or pasta...oh Lord I can't live without chocolate, wine, Doritos, pizza or pasta. Hell no!

But I'm not alive right now, am I? How come I can still taste and Lute can't?

I eyed Lute and reached for the bag. It was warm, steaming, slick with butter. REAL butter. "You made me want popcorn." I flung a few fluffs at his head and ate the rest Goku-style. One gulp like a shot of liquor...I never was one to reach in for one kernel at a time. Handfuls. Or, as a Saiyajin, the whole damn bag. I know I'm a pig. "It's like salty cellophane. Doesn't taste like real popcorn."

Lute's smile returned slowly, his open eye drifting up to the sky. Guess I appeased him a little. I tossed the empty bag towards him, following its course over his head and behind him. It disappeared as soon as it hit the ground. Just poof, gone as if it never existed. Oddly the full feeling also went out of my stomach. Like I didn't eat anything at all.

Of course I didn't, I just imagined I did. It wasn't real.

Shapes started forming in the mist behind Lute. Indistinct in many forms, sizes and consistencies. They all faded out again before they ever became solid. A bit like the T-1000 in _Terminator 2_ after it'd been tossed into that molten vat. Remember how it was taking all these shapes that melted before they could really form? It was like that...only in fog rather than metal. And it didn't scream. There wasn't a sound.

I wasn't doing that. Lute. His swirling mind. Then again the mist around me was often quite disturbed and moving faster than the rest, but it never really formed anything. At least not unless I let my mind stick too long on a single idea or image.

"Y'ever wonder?" his voice was light again, the smile still on his lips.

"Wonder what?"

"Whatever. Just wonder..."

"I try not to too much out here," I scratched my head, "but I wonder a lot of things, naturally." I looked over at him again. I may never see Lute alive and breathing in front of me again...I want to remember what he looks like. Just like I remember Tambourine's sharp, handsome features and Di's sexy, lithe body...I better be careful or they might come back!

He really was a young looking guy. Too young to die like he did. Light build though not overly so, a little bit like Discord. Definitely thinner than Piccolo. There was a drifted smile on his face that fit his features. A short, oval face like that of a little boy instead of a man. He was watching the shapeless clouds swirl overhead. For a moment the light on the floor played on his green cheek. He reminded me of those cherubs I see on Valentines and Christmas cards. Such a cutie. It's honestly hard to believe he's Piccolo's kid in the RP world, he doesn't look much like him at all...except maybe those ears and his lips. _Definitely_ the lips.

I settled on my stomach and grinned up at him. "Anybody ever tell you you're a doll in person?"

Lute peered down at me, squinting slightly. "I once impersonated a plushie," he said casually.

"Are you serious?"

"Go ahead. Poke my tummy."

"Uh, okay." I poked his stomach. "Dough boy!"

He made this funny squeaking noise and yelled, "Mommy!"

Hilarious. I just leaned back and laughed a bit. "You're funny."

His eye lidded and he laughed back. A light, soft little sound. It was honestly nice to hear him laugh. Much nicer than the way he looked when he was mad at me.

"Seriously though, you're cute. I bet you get that a lot though."

"Actually..." Lute looked up again and tapped his chin with one finger, "I kinda do. Though the same amount of people tend to chase me with blunt objects, too."

"Oh come on, that's bull. I'm the one that gets chased with blunt objects." I made a face. "I still think you get a ton of attention from girls."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Actually...it's more guys. Don't ask me, by the gods _why_, but it's usually guys."

I forgot...Lute is a gay man magnet. It was so horribly tempting to conjure up the Queer Eye guys just to watch them jump him and give him a makeover. It would've been funny as hell...and Lute would never forgive me.

I covered my blushing face with some of my hair. "Bo would SOOOOOOO hit on you if he was here. And I don't think I'm going to bring him in either. Cute and odd as he is, he's also a pain."

"Mmh, no thanks. Got nothing against gay men and all, but m'not interested. Just don't swing that way."

"Must be your cute little face." I snickered and poked Lute kinda hard in the side, making him jump. In the same mocking tone I continued on, "But this place...I wish it could fix everything that's wrong with the world."

Lute made a disapproving noise, tightened his lips and looked over. Now THERE was a more Piccolo-like face! "By making up a perfect one...save for the fact that it's not real. None of it is."

I met his open eye. "Your family could come back."

For a moment there was a deathly silence between us. Then, slowly, Lute turned his head to look fully at me. I saw his teeth grit behind his lips. Right then I knew my big mouth just got me in trouble. Again. Dammit, why can't I just shut up when I'm ahead? Why must I always say just one too many stupid things? STUPID!

"No," he whispered. When people whisper they're usually more angry than when they're yelling. "They can't come back."

"Not even here?"

"_I'm_ real. I'd bet my ass that Tambourine was, somehow. But no one else was." The bright, cheerful eye lost some luster. "No one else..."

"Marbles."

"All glass."

"No," I said, "Something Di said."

"Mh." He curled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, resting his cheek on top. Just like a small, frightened, angry child. His wings just hung there behind him, drooped like wilted flower petals. I almost expected him to burst into tears or fly into a rage.

"Di said...well he said universes are like marbles on a floor. This's one marble," I gestured to the area around us, "You're from another. Tambourine came from another, Di from a different one and Bo from yet another different one. They _were_ all real. Just like you are."

Snorting, Lute closed his eye, "Really?"

"Yeah." I leaned forward, tail wagging again, "I just kind of called them. Where do you think I got this?" I reached back and lifted the bo out of the mist. Its blades gleamed eerily in the light and I briefly remembered Di's careful hands polishing it. Those long, tapered fingers worn flat from piano playing...I quickly shook it off.

"And what do you think happened to the real them? In their worlds?" Lute's head jerked up and his wings flared, "I don't know, maybe you can tell me. C'mon, tell me."

I got nervous again. "I-in YOUR marble...universe...they're gone. But not in their own. They're still alive somewhere. Just..." I stared blankly ahead in search of a proper word. 'Gone' was the worst choice. Aha. "...unreachable."

Next thing I knew, I was three feet away on the ground. My face throbbing, stinging, heat rushing into the wounded area. I blinked in shock and pain, holding my face. Hurt and bewildered. I looked up at Lute and found him on his feet with his hand still outstretched. Blood, my blood, faintly shining on his clawtips. I took my hand off my face to find it smeared with sticky crimson.

He'd slapped me. Hard. Punches do a lot of damage, but slaps hurt a lot worse for a LOT longer. I would've been utterly pissed off if I wasn't so damn scared right then.

Lute glared at me with his face pulled into a mask of rage. I saw veins pulsing on his forehead just below his antennae. The bulbous appendages throbbed in time with the vein. I wasn't looking at anger...this was rage. _Dangerous_ rage.

"Don't you know it's stupid to hit girls?" I spat in attempt to recover some of my dignity. Boy aren't I smart, screaming at someone whose sanity barely hung on by a thread.

"Don't you know it's stupid to live in a bubble?" He spat the words like acid.

Obviously Lute doesn't know what it's like to be autistic. And that ticked me off. "Where the hell do you think I've been my whole life? It's just...this place caters exactly to it! My mind!"

I heard him snarl. That was enough to shut me up...for about two seconds. "I hate the unknown. I don't even know if I'm going to win this one."

He took a step forward and spoke in a tone I can only describe as threatening. "_This. Isn't. Reality._"

And I exploded, "Then what _IS_!"

"Outside. Where things are, whether you think of them or not. Where you can't pick and choose your existence." He closed his fists, but his eyes burned into mine, "Where bad things happen, good people die too soon and everyone just has to hold on."

I didn't want to hear this. Lalala, not listening! LALALALA!

"My mind is like this room. Exactly like it. Out there it's crazy and scary and I barely understand any of it. I don't want to face it, even though I have to. I can stay with Piccolo here and live happily ever after just like the movies - "

"**_This isn't reality, Cyndi!_**" Lute snarled so loud I saw foamy spit flying off his fangs. "The people may be 'real' when you bring them here. But they're not really here. They're out there," he pointed at the building. Beyond it was the door leading out of this comfortable place. "with _Void_, who is going to _kill_ them if you don't get your head out of your tiny ass."

The hot bubble forming in my stomach became unbearable. I was on the verge of a complete tantrum. And I exploded, shoving my face up into his, "_NO!_ SHE WON'T! I WON'T LET HER!"

Lute gazed coolly down at me, eyes half lidded. Very casual despite my practically spitting in his face. "Oh, yeah?" He crossed his arms, "And how do you plan to stop her from in here?"

"I-I'm training! So when I go out I CAN kick her ugly mole-crusted ass!"

"Good girl."

Grrrr! "I'm not a dog. Don't talk to me like one."

"I didn't say you were."

With a sigh, I deflated and sat down next to his legs. I just suddenly felt too tired to stand. "Feh."

Something light dropped into my hands. I looked down and found a tiny little chain with a swirl of a flower at the bottom. So delicately made and beautiful. It was probably all solid gold and worth a fortune. My love of shiny jewelry took over and I studied it in the glow from the floor. "What's this?

"My mother's. Well, not my actual mother, just another reality of her" said Lute softly, "She said it gave her good luck."

I carefully pocketed the chain and looked up. Long way up too, "Are you sure you should be giving it away like this?"

He stuck his hand in his pocket and I saw the bulge of his fist clasping something. Though his sweats were hanging low they didn't move further down when his hand pressed on them from within. "I have other things to keep me going."

My eyes were moist. I sniffed. "Yeah."

"Hey, kid...who are you talking to?" Another voice cut in. A familiar deep, whispery rumble.

I jerked around to see Piccolo halfway sitting up, looking at me. He didn't seem to see Lute. Nobody could, except a select few. Children mostly, and those with childlike minds like mine. I remembered that in his own reality Lute was doomed to watch from the side, but never participate. He's stuck watching 'his' Piccolo go downhill. He's probably seen Void do awful things to his reality and he couldn't stop her. God, how awful.

Lute looked over at Piccolo and smiled faintly, crinkling his left eye.

"I'm talking to Lute." I said.

Piccolo squinted at me. Skeptical. I looked closer and saw he was still very much half asleep. The downside of the chocolate high - coming down was hellish. Poor Piccolo was going to have a hangover!

But it was worth it. Sore privates and all, it was worth it.

Piccolo put his head down on his arm and closed his eyes to rest a little longer - boy he didn't look too good. I was grateful he didn't ask more questions. He probably won't believe me when I do finally explain this to him.

I felt rather than saw Lute shift away.

"Ya gonna remember for me?"

"Yeah..." I sagged, "This place isn't real. But that kinda takes the fun out of it."

"Maybe." He looked up, "But what's fun isn't always what's best."

My shoulders drooped, "I know...that's what sucks. But I guess I just like the control." I looked up through my bangs and sighed, "I have to fight to save the people that bring places like this to life. There won't BE anyone to dream otherwise. I just wish I could snap my fingers and everyone would be happy.

"Heh, if you'd been in control of your life, ya wouldn't have met the stranger that let you come to this side. You wouldn't have needed what you've been learning all this time."

I pressed a hand to my chest where the necklace was inside me. Its warmth answered me and I looked up. "I never would've met Piccolo."

Lute's face softened. "_Hai_, you wouldn't have."

"And I never would've met someone that understands me. I mean...nobody in my world can really, but he _does_."

"So maybe change is a good thing, Cyn."

"Yeah," I snorted. "But I don't belong here. I don't belong there. I feel so strange."

"Sometimes that's the price of a little happiness," said Lute, a knowing look in his expression.

"Nobody knows that better than you."

Lute smiled distantly at me, his open eye faraway. "Maybe."

Geez...I felt myself exhale the leftover air in my lungs. "I guess I have to get past my comfort zone." I grinned wryly up at him, "Do you realize how much I HATE doing that?"

There was only silence as Lute looked up. His gaze drifted out over the mist, the door and the distant black sky. "S'the way life is. Cherish it, 'cuz someday you'll really be dead."

Dead for real. Yikes. I hoped it would be later rather than sooner.

"But what about you, Lute?" I looked at him expectantly.

He looked back with a raised eyeridge. Then he kind of chuckled. "Only time'll tell."

"Heh." I grinned and started singing, "_Who can say where the road goes? Where the day flows? Only tiiiiiime_."

"Don't go all Enya on me." Lute winked, "S'best I get going."

"Yeah...before others show up." Mostly meaning Void, but I had a few others in mind that I'd rather not see.

"Catch ya some other time, girlie?"

I jumped up and hugged him around the waist, pressing my forehead into his chest. His cold skin didn't bother me anymore. "Yeah, because you'll be getting this necklace back. You still need it."

"I'll get it back when you win." Lute's voice vibrated down through his chest and into my forehead. Such a light, calm voice that fit exactly with his appearance. He hugged me back and lifted my head to plant a big, wet, sloppy kiss right on the end of my nose.

I kinda laughed because it was slimy and cute at the same time. "That's a promise."

Lute pulled away and grinned back, laughing along with me at the spit on my nose. I wiped it off on my arm and looked up in time to see him stepping backwards. He raised a hand in a wave. Then he leapt up into the sky, flapped his wings once and just disappeared into the mist. The fog retained his shape for a long time. I watched it fly higher until it broke apart and drifted back into the swirl around me. Then the gentle tornado surrounding me calmed. The floor at my feet was once again completely shrouded from view.

I backed away from where Lute used to be. He was right. I needed to stop playing and get down to business.

"Cyndi..." Piccolo was right behind me. "did you - "

"Yeah, but he left. It's a really long, complicated story." I turned and buried myself in Piccolo's arms. He was only half dressed and his pants came dangerously close to falling right off. I planted both hands squarely on his butt and squeezed it. Mm, nice and tight, just like it should be. I nuzzled my face lovingly against his washboard stomach. Getting lost in the slick, rough texture.

Piccolo lifted my chin. His face was firm, but gentle. "Lute. I know who he is. He's visited me before."

I choked on my spit and coughed, "You saw him?"

"I can see him." Piccolo rolled his eyes at me like it was obvious. "The 'me' in his own world can't because that version of myself isn't attuned to those kinds of things." His lips quirked, "Who do you think told Kami to check your Reality in the first place? The old fart could've dumped himself in any number of Realities, but Lute told him to pick yours."

My eyes widened. "Lute did that?"

"Yes. And once you met Lute's creator, she tuned you into him so he could speak to you from cyberspace. He know of you before he knew who you were."

I looked straight up as if expecting to see Lute reappear. It was because of him that Kami even found me, and he didn't tell me. He must've seen me somehow. Damn, I wish I'd known...so I could thank him.

Lute, if you read this...thank you.

"Excuse me." Piccolo's voice cut into my thoughts. "You're holding my ass. Do you mind?"

"Mmh, it's such a luscious ass too." I kneaded it. "Can I hold on just a little longer?"

Piccolo did something shocking. He grabbed my butt back. Only it took one of his hands to span its small width and squeeze.

"Ouch! You're pinching too hard!"

"Now you know how it feels."

I promptly let go, which made Piccolo let go of me.

"We definitely need to do that again." I grinned up at Piccolo from under my bangs

"Hmph. No thanks, I hate migraines and that chocolate gave me one that lasted my entire nap." Piccolo walked away to get dressed. He seemed a little off about it. "I dreamed...and I don't dream that often." Must've been a bad dream. But I don't recall Piccolo being the type to have nightmares.

I blushed. "Could've been the chocolate."

"Maybe."

"What was it about, anyway?"

Piccolo straightened after he'd donned his shirt, cape and turban. He didn't answer me right away.

Phew, I needed to go put on more clothes. Just got freezing cold. "Piccolo? What did you dream about?"

"I...Cyndi, walk towards me." Piccolo was staring over my head. Frozen. Slack-jawed. "...I brought him here."

"Huh? Who?"

I got the feeling of something large behind my back. I just froze and let it happen, waiting.

The mist itself seemed to speak. "Me."

That voice! It...it was familiar. Deep, rough, kind of throaty.

I started to turn, "Who the - "

Suddenly a huge fist smashed down on the top of my head. I ate the floor teeth first, my ears ringing from the impact. My mouth filled with coppery blood. Reality swam in a sea of nausea as I rolled over to peer at who hit me. The mist in front of me parted and I saw only blue. My eyes climbed higher until they stopped on something familiar. Something too familiar.

I was looking into a pair of black eyes very different from Piccolo's. These eyes had a deep red ring around the pupil. Just like a demon. My gaze traveled over prominent, sharp, green cheekbones and a grin baring long fangs. A second later my eyes were fixed on his chest. It was the last thing I saw before I passed out.

The Daimaou sigil.


	11. Part Eleven

Self insertion, violence and the other usual warnings.

Cool! Two characters in one fic "day"! This next author didn't want to be thanked by name or have their character named because they don't want the surprise ruined by having my silly credits here in the beginning. Don't blame 'em! They told me that if you recognize the character and the fic the character comes from, the author who doesn't wish to be named will feel credited just fine. If I were you and recognized the character or the fic the character came from(which I'm sure will be mentioned somewhere ;)), I'd go to their profile and read the fics again. The author and their fics are awesome as hell and I'm honored to be allowed to borrow this character here. I hardly changed a word of this author's writing except to make it from my pov, but it's this person's words mostly.

The scene involving this char was, just like the others, pulled off in an RP.

Btw, to avoid confusion, I'll be referring to King Piccolo(Or Piccolo Daimaou to you purists) simply as Daimaou to avoid confusing him with the Piccolo we all know and love.  


Believe Again   
Part Eleven

Dim awareness reached me after God-knows-how-long. My vision and thoughts were both swimming horribly. A ghastly taste in my mouth suggested I'd thrown up while unconscious. Ew, gross! Do you have any idea how gross chocolate tastes when it's been in your stomach and churning in bile for a few hours and then sitting in your mouth for a few minutes? YUCK!

"Oh, look, she's awake."

I looked up to see Daimaou kneeling over me. On my other side Paikuhan and Piccolo were lying in unceremonious heaps.

What the hell happened here? Wait, how could he be so strong? If child Goku beat him then how did he beat up Piccolo and Paikuhan?

Probably caught them by surprise.

My heart would've been in my throat if it was still beating. For a split, split, micro-nano-ultra-tiny second I was terrified he'd spot the bo. Then I remembered this wasn't the horrible Daimaou from the RP world...both Dania and Ash have been known to play as him in a certain universe called Discordant Rhythm.

That Daimaou was the father of mage Tambourine - and that Daimaou would've torn me apart on sight of the bo.

Long story, but let me just tell you I think the DR Daimaou is a lot worse than the Daimaou from the show. It's easy to tell them apart, Daimaou from DR has fiery red eyes and this Daimaou had black with a crimson pupil-rim.

I tore my mind off those images. One Daimaou was bad enough, but two? NO THANK-YOU!

I struggled to keep my mind from settling on a single thought. My eyes drifted slowly towards the two prone forms in the mist. "What..."

"Oh it's quite simple. Anything you imagine happens, is that not right? I turned the mist into sleeping gas. Those fools inhaled it with their constant threats." Daimaou flashed a maddening grin, his murderous eyes zeroing in on me like lasers on a sniper rifle. "You're such a pathetic little thing. I can not believe the likes of you weakened my spawn."

"Go to hell."

Daimaou kicked me in the face. CRACK! So this is what a soccer ball feels like! I felt myself fly through the air and land a good ten feet away from my starting point, my nose and forehead throbbing from impact. Damn, I felt his toenails through his shoe with that one! And again I was treated to the view of blue legs parting the mist.

A massive hand reached down and lifted me by the hair. I found myself staring into those red-rimmed eyes. He smelled like...like human blood mixed with desert dust. A twisted, mangled version of Piccolo's scent. Daimaou brought his face closer to mine. Nose to nose. He stuck his tongue out...and thrust it into my mouth. Licking at the blood coming from broken tooth sockets and my bitten cheeks. All over my gums, almost to the back of my throat. I put my hands on his cheeks and tried to push him away, but he held me fast in this sick semblance of a kiss. He was literally sucking the blood from between my lips and drinking it. DRINKING it!

I threw up again. Just a little bit, but enough to get on his tongue. That made him pull back and curl his lip in disgust. He let go of my head and caught me by the chin, his sharp talons digging painfully into my cheeks. "You are a disgusting little creature."

My stomach threatened to revolt again. I spat, "I'm not the one that sucks blood out of people's mouths."

Daimaou's grin was stained red from my blood. "And stupid. I wasn't talking about the vomit...it wasn't so bad."

Damn me and my literal mindedness! Wait, he liked that? GROSS!

"I will help you understand." We were moving again, me dangling from Daimaou's hand like a puppet. He was bigger than Piccolo, or at least his hands were. His long fingers wrapped around my face like a vice and I couldn't pull away without ripping the skin right off my cheekbones. His long, bone-white talons where right there under my eye. I clung to his wrist and pulled up to lessen the pressure on my skin.

We stopped moving. Daimaou turned my head until I was looking down at a very unconscious Piccolo. He bent and gripped Piccolo's face like he was gripping mine. Lifted him just enough that our faces were inches apart. "You slept with him like a tiny whore. You stink of his seed. He is weak because of you and your 'feelings'. You and that crybaby child he met so long ago...you completely ruined him! All my plans! But thanks to him, I've returned." He flung Piccolo back down like a piece of trash and straightened again. Piccolo flopped, ragdoll limp. Daimaou's grasp on me tightened. "I should thank you and your damaged mind, too, for helping me take form. Now I can sway him back to his goal."

"No!" I flailed and exploded into Super Saiyajin.

Daimaou rocked back a bit. He'd never seen someone go SSJ before. My gold aura reflected like fire in his eyes

"Oh my..." Amusement painted a sick grin on his narrow lips. "What is this?"

"THIS is gonna hurt!" I planted my fist square in his big, pointy nose! BAM! The impact turned Daimaou's head completely sideways and deformed his expression.

Ow...that probably hurt me more than it hurt him.

He faced me again. His nose was bleeding a thin stream of indigo that he quickly erased with a flick of his pointed tongue. What the hell! DAMMIT! Even in SSJ I'm too weak to deal with much. I'm all speed, no power. I fight like a swarm of bees, as Piccolo sometimes tells me...weak hits, but a lot at once from too many directions.

IF I CAN JUST GET MOMENTUM...and I had none. None!

"Please, if you were trying to hurt me, you'll have to hit me a lot harder than that. What are you, a raindrop?" Laughter. He was laughing at me. "I think I like you. You can be the jester when I revive my empire."

Hell no...he was going to do exactly what he was trying to do before Goku killed him. What if he could leave this room? What if he...what if he met up with Void out there? Either they'd fight or team up in a symbiotic relationship with Void feeding off Daimaou's constant rage and hatred.

"Why couldn't you just stay dead?" I moaned. "Though I do have one thing to thank you for...you created Piccolo." The last part came out snotty, but I kinda meant it too. Silly eh?

"And I can destroy him as well. He's useless now that I'm alive again."

Oh shit. "PICCOLO!"

I flailed again. Blindly biting, punching, scratching, kicking and clawing. Many blows at once. I may be the weakest physically, but I can wear people down by messing with them this way.

Daimaou just held me at arm's length. I'd bitten a chunk out of his thumb, but he didn't seem too bothered by it. He was just looking at me like I was a joke. "Are you finished?"

The mist below us stirred. Piccolo and Paikuhan were slowly coming around. Too slow! They needed to wake up NOW!

"Please don't hurt Piccolo." I said pathetically, tears streaming down my cheeks. "I love him."

Daimaou looked at me again. His eyes suddenly softened and he drew me to his chest. Stroking my hair lovingly. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry," and then he flung me down on top of Piccolo, who was sent smashing into Paikuhan. All three of us tumbled like bowling pins. Cue the cheesy sound effect. STRIKE!

"If you're going to be that sniveling, I'll just destroy you three together."

Destroy...did he mean just pump us full of ki blast holes or totally disintegrate us? The glow in his hand suggested choice B.

Fuck.

"Piccolo! Paikuhan! I can't carry you both! MOVE!"

Daimaou held up his fist and splayed his fingers. His palm began to glow. The gleam reflected in his cold, dark eyes. Veins throbbed on his temples. Lit from below by the floor and his ki, Daimaou truly looked like a demon from Hell. He started laughing at the top of his lungs. Maniacal, evil, chilling laughter. A sound just as chilling as Tambourine's eyes had been, only the gleam was on his fangs instead of his irises.

"Come on, son..." Daimaou jeered, "what happened to your demon spirit?"

"It died a long, long time ago," Piccolo replied slowly. His speech was slurred like he'd been out drinking all night.

"Obviously," said Daimaou.

Piccolo just glared at him. I've never seen his eyes so filled with hate before. Hate and...pain. But he wouldn't get up. He was still just shifting around like a bothered sleeper. "Cyndi," Piccolo said softly. He turned his eyes to me and the flame in them abated to a dull glow. "Just run...one of us needs to stay in one piece to get out of here."

I seized Piccolo's collar and shook him hard, his head flopping back with each shake. "We all go or nobody goes, dammit! Now get your sexy green ass UP!" Then I grabbed Paikuhan's white vest, slapping his cheeks until he groaned in protest. "WAKE UP! Both of you! WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

My mind was spinning. Imagining. Hoping.

Daimaou's hand glowed brighter, illuminating half his face and chest. His laughing had subsided to soft, cold chuckling. He mocked me by powering up slowly. Giving me false hope.

Hope.

I felt one of my tears drip off my chin. When it hit the ground the whole area trembled. The floor split open. I lost my footing and fell backwards across Piccolo and Paikuhan's laps. They both reached down to steady me.

From beneath the mist grew a delicate, fragile sapling. It just shot up out of the ground, undulating, twisting, curling and curving, growing wider as it became taller. Soon it was so large I couldn't see Daimaou anymore.

A tree.

It kept on growing until its trunk eclipsed Paikuhan, Piccolo and myself...we could stand side by side in front of it and still it would be wider. It sprouted thick, twisted branches that unfurled and sagged like tears. A great, weeping willow. Its tremendous roots formed from the mist itself.

And perched on one of them was a figure that could be Piccolo's twin. Same face, same eyes, same clothes. Another Piccolo? But why? How?

He leapt off the root with a grace that belied his height and disappeared from sight. The only sound was his cape as it danced in the mist like eagle's wings.

"Who're you?" Daimaou's voice demanded.

"The answer for someone desperate to live." The voice that replied wasn't Piccolo's. It was...younger...higher in pitch and very smooth. Almost too gentle to come from this Namek's mouth. "You should leave before somebody gets seriously hurt."

Laughter from Daimaou. "Get out of here, boy! You're far out of your league."

"The only one who will be leaving is you." The younger voice gained a rough edge more like Piccolo's.

I scrambled around and took cover behind a root that curved enough to let me see both of them. The "Piccolo twin" stood squarely before Daimaou, his eyes narrowed, soft lips curled into a sneer that seemed oddly out of place. His face was molded by happy, warm smiles. Not the cold, angry snarls that shaped Piccolo's features.

"I may share your blood, Daimaou, but I have my own soul. Bastard. You can't sway me." With that the younger Namek lashed out.

Oddly, it wasn't him that struck out. The tree leaned forward, long branches stretching out like a hand to capture Daimaou in its clutches. Try as he might the Demon King couldn't break free! He flailed, he cursed and he snarled...but he was trapped in the bindings of green life. As I watched these long branches slowly closed until all I saw were Daimaou's gleaming, blood-rimmed eyes peering out from a gap in the green. Then they, too, vanished into the living chrysalis of bark, leaves and flowers.

The other Namek was looking at me, chest heaving under his purple shirt. He walked over, cape rippling in the mist, and offered me a tapered hand. His dark opal eyes were warm and reflected the ghostly fog intertwining around us.

I grasped his hand and felt him pull me to my feet.

"Thanks! I don't know how you did that, but you just saved our butts!"

Gods he was so damn familiar...

The other Namek reached down and ran his gentle fingers through my hair. They lacked the rough bone scarring that gave Piccolo's hands their thick, gnarled feel. "You'll understand soon, I promise." He raised my chin and smiled into my eyes. As if he'd read my mind, he continued lightly, "You called me. I am hope...and I Believe."

Then he moved away to help Piccolo up. He was shorter than Piccolo by maybe an inch. Just enough that I missed the height difference when he was alone.

And I recognized him then.

That was Doramu. Doramu from Universe's fic, Live! I've read it a million times and every single time I read it I get completely wrecked.

I watched Doramu clasp Piccolo's hands and look into his eyes with such...such utter love and trust. They spoke to each other in the native Namek tongue. I couldn't catch more than a few words, and when I did I couldn't understand them. Their words rolled together like dew droplets sliding down a blade of grass. Suddenly they embraced. Doramu buried his face in Piccolo's chest. Piccolo, his eyes uncharacteristically soft, touched the back of Doramu's head. The tree behind them burst into full bloom.

Finally Doramu drew back and cupped Piccolo's cheek. Piccolo nodded and patted his shoulder. They clasped hands again. Doramu's smile said it all...he was completely honored. Again he spoke Namekian and they both looked at me.

"I can handle her," Piccolo chuckled.

Doramu closed one eye, which made him seem even younger than his nineteen years. "I know you can."

They grinned identical grins at each other. Then Doramu moved over to help Paikuhan, who was having a rough time getting over the gas. Doramu gave him a senzu bean to replenish his energy and guided him to his feet. I watched them shake hands and exchange words of greeting and thanks. Paikuhan rubbed the side of his head and laughed at something Doramu said. Something about taking punches better, I think.

Piccolo was still looking over at me. He looked oddly young, standing there with his hands on his hips next to this massive tree. Hell, he just met his own son from yet another reality. One where he didn't live to see him grow up. I found myself glowing, happy that Doramu got to meet his father in some form. I know how much he loved him.

Isn't it amazing how someone can carry a heart filled with so much love for a person they never met? It's a feeling I can so relate to...for a long time that was how I loved Piccolo as well. From a distance, knowing only what I saw during those daily half hours when I settled down to watch the show. Never dreaming that I, an ordinary little person, would ever get the chance to hold him in my arms and tell him to his face that I always loved him.

Ain't it great when fate intervenes? And it's all Lute's fault! Hehe...

Suddenly Doramu was in front of me again. He smelled like Piccolo, but with a hint of pine.

"Hi!" I looked up and just gushed like an idiot, "Wow, it's an honor to really meet you! How's life?"

Would Universe believe this if I told her about it?

"It's great," Doramu knelt to my level and laughed, "but I'm the one that should be honored." He closed one eye again. That slow, youthful wink that curled half his boyish mouth into a fang-baring grin. He had Piccolo's smile. "My universe wouldn't be here if you weren't around. I haven't seen Void yet, but if I do I'll be sure to give her a beating."

"Heh, heh! Good luck with that, Doramu." I put my hand lightly on his arm. "Really though...she's nasty. You have to team up on her. I know I can't take her on alone. I'm too small for that kind of fight."

"Sometimes the smallest ones create the biggest wonders." Doramu gazed warmly at me with both eyes open. So much like Piccolo...yet so different. His soul was molded in love, not hate, and it showed. In the way he breathed, how he moved and the voice with which he spoke. Every word he said came out warm. Regarding on friendly terms rather than a constant hissed challenge.

"What do you mean?" I asked stupidly.

Doramu took my hand by the wrist and held it gently palm up. He reached under his belt with thumb and forefinger, producing an object so small I couldn't see it until he placed it on my palm. So minuscule and light I barely even felt it. A tiny, greenish-yellow sphere no larger than a pin's head. Doramu's careful hands smoothed my fingers over it, protecting it from harm.

I met his eyes again, still confused. "A mustard seed?"

"Ever seen a mustard tree?"

"No, but I heard they get huge." I looked back at his patient face, "But why a mustard seed?"

"It's you. Your power is just like this seed, Cyndi. It's tiny now, yes, but it will grow just like a mustard tree. Don't be afraid to let it sprout when the time comes. Let it shoot up towards that daylight and spread its branches to the wind. You'll know when you're ready." He brought my hands to his lips and kissed them softly. Exactly like Piccolo had kissed his brow when he was born in his universe.

My face got warm real fast. I caught myself smiling again. Doramu is just so charming! He's like a prince, almost, but I really don't know why. "Girls must love you."

It was his turn to blush. He hid his face behind long fingers and peered at me from between them. His answering laughter was sprinkled with the shyness of female inexperience. "Yeah, I guess they do, but I don't have a girlfriend."

"Aw..." I kissed his cheek, "I'd date ya if I wasn't taken."

"Thanks." Doramu took his hand from his face and wiped one eye. He looked down at a teardrop that sat like a little diamond on his fingertip, met my eyes again and smiled halfway. "Yeah. He's just like Gohan described him. I can only imagine what my life would have been like had he lived to raise me."

He looked at the tear, then held it out for me to see. Deep inside it was a lush, bright forest where a little Namekian child was chasing a butterfly. I can't explain how I made this out, but...it was beautiful. I could feel the love Doramu had for his son. It was the same love that version of Piccolo had for him while he was alive.

Then some of the blood on my mouth dripped on Doramu's finger. He flinched and the two liquids met, sending a crimson swirl into the droplet. There was a flash as the tear rolled off his fingertip the same way rain rolls off rose petals. It glimmered and flashed like a miniature red star, and met the floor in silence. When it made impact the entire floor shone like the Milky Way, a single ruby glow marking the center. For just a moment the entire place seemed as still as death. Then the stars gradually faded, the red one vanishing last.

Doramu was doing that, not me.

"Probably..." I finally reached up and wrapped my hands around Doramu's wrist. Quite taken by what he could do here, his mind must be filled with such hopes and dreams for his baby son. "Probably just like it is with you and little Mandorin." Then I smiled, "I have a harder time picturing him as a grandpa. Somehow I doubt Piccolo would growl and ask for prune juice."

Doramu's eyes tilted in amusement. "I'd have a heart attack if I EVER heard he'd said something like that!"

"Prune juice?" I heard Piccolo say to Paikuhan.

"I have no idea," Paikuhan answered.

They both shrugged.

Doramu and I chuckled together, then I became serious again. I looked up at the huge tree, absently wiping at the blood on my face. Blech. The cocoon holding Daimaou seemed kind of small in comparison. Like a piece of fruit dangling off one branch. The tree itself seemed alive and able to sense us. Its long, graceful branches were always moving, despite the absence of wind, and turned towards Doramu regardless of where he was standing in relation to them. Each trembling leaf seemed to sing a silent song about life, love and transcendence.

"What about Daimaou?"

"The tree of life will hold him. If he's still there when I get home, I know of a certain jar that's been terribly lonely." Then he looked at the tree as if it held the past, present and future. In many ways I think it did.

It'd be awhile before I really understood what he meant by 'tree of life' and the symbolism of the tree itself. At the time the story hadn't been written yet! Isn't that amazing? I got a hint before the author who created Doramu did!

"He'll love that thing." I snickered. Poor Daimaou...thwarted again! "Thanks for saving our asses. But...I don't recall thinking of you specifically. How did you really get here?"

He smirked, "Do you remember what my name translates to?"

"Yeah. Hope."

"I just rode the feeling." Doramu stood up and ruffled my hair. "You're a bit like mom, but she'd kill me if I brought you home with that hair."

"Hey! I LIKE my hair this way! It's nice and..."

" - almost stands high enough to require oxygen." He gave me a thumbs up. "And you could use all the height help you can get, darlin'."

We both laughed pretty hard.

Doramu wiped a laugh tear off his cheek. "Good luck, Cyndi." Then he looked over my shoulder. "Dad, Paikuhan...take care." He said the word 'dad' so tenderly and reverently. As if the word itself was so fragile that saying it too roughly would shatter its meaning like glass.

I watched Doramu perch on the same root he was sitting on when he appeared. He raised a hand to wave as the tree grew up. As it rose it exploded into a tremendous cloud of swirling fog. Looked just like a cyclone. Doramu's cape swished and undulated around his frame, trailing mist in its wake. The wind whisked his cape over his form where it became one with the giant cloud. His green, vibrant face was the last to disappear. Then the misty root with his outline still on top formed a huge arch that broke apart in the darkness. The twisting shape of the tree itself dissipated violently in all directions until nothing remained.

The mist rushed back to the floor, generating a HUGE gust of wind that almost knocked me off my feet. Everything fell back in its rightful place and Piccolo, Paikuhan and myself were alone again.

I was so frazzled by it all that I jumped out of my skin when Piccolo clasped my shoulder.

"Kid, relax, it's just me."

"I know...but shit, this place is crazy! You coulda been the boogey man for all I know!"

Piccolo bent down to eye level and grinned, baring his fangs. "No, Cyndi, I'm worse."

"Ooh," I licked his smile. Literally licked it. "sexy boogey man."

Paikuhan burst out laughing. "Better run, Piccolo. And fast."

Piccolo made a face and moved away from me. "I can hold her down with one hand, I don't need to run."

"Hey!" I bristled, "You wanna pin me and find out how fast I can get away?"

"No, thanks, you might enjoy it too much."

I batted my eyes. "Indeed."

Great ice breaker. The three of us laughed.

"Can we finally get to some real training?"

"Did I hear right?" Paikuhan rubbed his ears and looked from me to Piccolo. His thick lips curled into a smile.

"Yeah...you did." Piccolo gave me a hard slap on the back. It almost knocked me over. "You wanted Hell, kid, you're gonna get it, especially since I owe you for that chocolate. Go find Discord's bo."

My brain said 'uh oh'. Yet my Saiyajin blood lived for the challenge.

"Yessir!" Off I sprinted into the dark.

No more screwing around. This time I'm gonna start training seriously.


	12. Part Twelve

Self insertion and the other usual warnings. 

Since is being asinine with separators again, I'm just going to use a lone "o" to separate scenes. Sorry about them, they're ugly, but this site is starting to piss me off and I don't know what else to use. 

This chapter contains some sick, juvenile humor. Poor Piccolo. XD 

Believe Again   
Part Twelve 

CLANG! THUD! 

The Kaios really need to look into getting carpeting in the Quantum Room. 

"Dammit! I keep falling!" I complained as I pushed myself back upright. 

"Almost had it that time...but you're throwing off your balance at the thrust." Paikuhan said calmly. He walked with me through the motions, having materialized a very similar bo so he didn't have to keep taking away the one I was using to demonstrate new moves. "Keep your feet square on the ground and swing it in a big arc. Now give it a twirl. Stay centered. Now thrust!" 

I brought the bo around, twirled it over my head like a huge baton, twisted my grip and thrust the bladed end at Paikuhan's gut. Rather than land in a threatening stance, I ended up tipping forward. Again. The blade pinged loudly as it hit the floor. I always got it right until I had to thrust. 

The frustration was unbearable. I threw the bo down angrily. Winced at the screeching noise it made when it hit the ground. I hung my head. Glaring at the long, shiny form in the mist like it was to blame for all my problems. A soft shimmer ran along the blades. The sapphire in the crux seemed to wink at me. I knelt slowly and picked the bo back up, gently petting the side that hit the floor. I felt like I'd just hurt Di by flinging his bo down and now I was soothing away the pain I caused. 

I'm sure Di wouldn't have liked it if he saw(or in his case, heard) how I just treated his precious weapon. It's art, you don't just go around throwing works of art on the ground no matter how mad you are! 

"Sorry," I whispered to it. 

Piccolo opened one eye to look up. He reminded me of my cat Suzy with the way he sat there, meditating, and didn't move while Paikuhan and I just kind of stepped all around him. His white cape fell around his large form in a waterfall of folds and shadows, still a bit dusty from Daimaou's visit. 

"Nobody gets anything on the first try, kid." 

"Yeah, but Piccolo, this's try number what? Five bazillion and one? I'm just not feeling it." I gripped the bo in my bony fists. "I keep overshooting the last thrust." 

"You're leaning too far. It's not a sword, it's a bo. It had enough reach to do the job without leaning." Stepping behind me, Paikuhan grasped my wrists. He guided my hands forward into the thrust while pulling me backwards to keep me standing straight. "See?" Then he manipulated my shoulders until they were squared. He jiggled me. I wiggled, but didn't fall. "There, this is the pose you should land in. Let the bo's weight do its job. Try not to lean or the weight of the bo will just pull you to the ground. You'll expose your back to an attack." 

That made more sense! I just needed hands-on help. "Hey, thanks!" 

"Sure. Now try it again just like this." Paikuhan helped me swing the bo in a big loop and then thrust a bladed end forward. Right into the belly of an imaginary foe. "Think you can handle this for awhile?" 

I lifted a blade and tapped his shoulder with it. "Yeah, I think so." 

His puffy lips curved into a smirk. "Good. I'm going to go work with mine." 

"How about you fight Void and I'll just watch?" I twisted my head around to peer up at Paikuhan's green face. 

"Sorry, no can do." Paikuhan just laughed and gave me a little shake. It made me wobble on my feet. 

"Hey!" I laughed back. 

Piccolo was still watching us. Or rather, watching Paikuhan's hands on my shoulders. I couldn't help but notice an intensity in his eyes that closely resembled Daimaou's cold stare. He watched us until Paikuhan stepped back and picked up his own bo. 

Paikuhan backed off to pick up his bo and continue his workout. He moved a lot more fluidly than I did. Probably been using weapons like that all his life. 

I lifted the bo and twirled it. Twisted around to grip it in both hands. Squared my feet and THRUST, just like Paikuhan showed me. I stuck the landing and held that position for awhile to get used to it. I felt oddly powerful wielding this thing and started trying to copy Paikuhan's movements, but threw in a few cool kicks Piccolo taught me. 

Just don't start calling me Donatello. Hahaha! 

Well if anybody looked anything like a Ninja Turtle, it was Paikuhan. Let's see - big eyes, no nose, a prominent mouth. Yup, very turtle-like. The bo he swung around was just a long, segmented metal stick colored bright purple. It whistled in the air when he swung it. 

"We're missing something..." I stopped again and chewed the end of my finger. Yes...I needed something to help me keep my rhythm going. "I know!" 

"What? What's wrong?" Piccolo asked without opening his eyes. He seemed annoyed that I kept stopping. 

"Just hold on. I'll be right back." I leapfrogged over Piccolo and raced into the living area. Sprinted the entire way down the hall and into the bedroom where I slept. I dug around in my backpack for my portable CD player and speakers. Heh, heh...this would be perfect. 

After thrusting some new batteries into the CD player, I returned to the Quantum floor and set it down a short ways off from Piccolo and Paikuhan. 

"Cyndi? What are you doing?" 

"Relax, Piccolo, I need this." I winked one eye shut and pressed play. The Matrix theme song blasted out of the speakers. 

Piccolo covered his ears. Paikuhan paused to look at me. I grinned at them both. Then I picked up the bo, twirled it deftly above my head and did a front flip. I landed in a crouch and brought the bo diagonally across my body so only my eyes peeked over one serrated blade. The music filled me with energy and excitement. 

"It's training music!" And I went back to my routine. Timing my motions to the beat. It all started to feel more like a really, really cool dance. "Just follow the beat, you guys. It's cool! I'm following the sixteenth notes! Can you?" 

Piccolo raised a brow. "Following the what?" 

Paikuhan arched one right back at him. "I...have no idea." 

"THESE!" I tapped them out on the floor with one blade, matching the rhythm of the music. "One - eh - and - a - two - eh - and - a - three - eh - and - a - four - eh - and - a...see?" 

They just looked blankly at me. Two sets of eyes blinking slowly. 

Piccolo finally shook his head, "Whatever you say." 

I threw my hands up in the air, "Ugh! If you dorks just learned how to count music you'd know what I'm talking about!" The Matrix song ended. A second later I caught myself wiggling around to the familiar beat of drums followed by a swift synthesizer. "_No one looked as I walk by, just an invitation would've been just fine. Said no to him again and again...first he took my heart, then he raaaan! No one knows how I feel, what I say unless you read between my lines! One man walked away from me. First he took my haaaand! TAKE ME HOME_..." 

Recognize it? 

Come on... 

STEVIE NICKS! _Stand Back_. 

I giggled in silly delight at the music and sang along with Stevie without caring that I had an audience. Stevie sings a bit low for me, so I just harmonized with her part in my comfortable range. I swung the bo around with the music, having an utter blast. Piccolo and Paikuhan? They just pretended they didn't know me and got up to go train somewhere else. 

Woohoo! I drove 'em off! Mwahaha! I turned the volume up as high as I could stand it and went back to practicing my thrust. 

Hehe, I said 'thrust'. Too bad you can't hear me right now, I do a pretty good Beavis laugh. 

Then Piccolo just had to cut in. "Cyndi...get your ass in gear." 

"Oh, you WANT me out there too? Okay!" 

This should be fun. 

o 

Piccolo promised me hell and boy did he and Paikuhan give it to me. I almost couldn't walk back into the living area. My poor, poor body. I had huge blisters on my hands from handling the bo so much. Those big, gross, wet blisters that leave behind a white ring of dead skin and sting like hell if you so much as breathe on them. 

Ever put iodine on one of those? IT HURTS! And I had like twenty of them in varying states of either bursting, being swollen or weeping. Being dead made them heal faster than normal. Piccolo helped relieve the pain by popping them for me. He just caught them between his sharp Namekian talons and squeezed them like pimples until the fluid inside came gushing out. Yeah, I know, too much info. 

So anyway, I had Piccolo put the iodine on too. Just couldn't make myself do it. In the end I realized how pointless it was. I was dead, I couldn't die of an infection. 

Habit I guess. 

And I did have fun grossing Piccolo out by peeling off dead, puss-covered blister skin and wiping it on his arm. Every time he popped a blister, I flailed around in pain and stuck the skin to him. Half his forearm was covered in slimy little bits of me and he didn't notice until we finished. He got kinda pale, called me disgusting and told me to go take my blister juice somewhere else. 

Funny how Piccolo can stare at an exploded corpse with guts all over the place and not even blink, but the sound of people chewing with their mouths open and having dead skin wiped on him makes him gag a little. 

One of these days I'm gonna see what happens if I show him a booger. 

Anyway...where was I? Oh, yeah. 

I think the biggest downside of settling down after a bout of training is that it always lets the exhaustion and sore muscles catch up to me. All at once. The dimness of the artificial starlit room didn't help my drowsiness much. I mean, for awhile I almost couldn't go through my typical routine of eating a good, chocolatey snack at exactly nine o'clock. It's funny; I always get hungry at nine in the evening no matter what I ate at eight-thirty. Just goes to show how deeply ingrained these routines get. 

I was sitting at the computer in the bedroom, typing up parts ten and eleven to keep you Believers out there informed of my latest visitors. A plate with a huge pile of Oreo cookies and a tall glass of milk were on the desk in front of me, but I didn't touch either. I kept on typing until exactly nine o'clock. On cue I got hungry and reached for the first cookie. 

"Mmph." I dipped the Oreo into the milk, stuffed it into my mouth and entered bliss as the milk-softened chocolate melted on my tongue. You're insane if you DON'T dip Oreos in milk before you eat them. It's the _only_ way to eat them. "Blessed sweet chocolate...hey Piccolo, you want some of this?" 

"Stop it, Cyndi. I'm not in the mood." said Piccolo grumpily. He hadn't been quite the same since Daimaou and Doramu paid us an unexpected visit. 

"Aw, c'mon, that was a joke. Or are you still mad at me about the blister guts?" 

His tone lowered to a whisper, "Just shut up and write. Leave me alone." 

"Reow," I muttered. 

"Feh." 

"Dude." I saved the file and flipped the chair around to face Piccolo, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed. "You've been acting like you have PMS ever since the incident with 'Daymeeyoo' - " 

"_Die-MA-oh_. _DieMA-oh_." Piccolo interrupted me by correcting my pronunciation of Daimaou's name, first slow and then at the proper speed. 

Wow, I was way off. 

"Whatever. You're being bitchy and it's not like you to be this uptight. It's too much even for you." I eased off the chair and rested my hands on his knees. Basically making myself too annoying to ignore. "What's going on with you?" 

"Cyndi, you don't understand." 

I squeezed his knees. He flexed his legs in response. 

"Try me." I said. "Make me understand. Just tell me what's wrong. C'mon...you listen to my problems so let me listen to yours." 

"Why don't you just -" Piccolo jerked his head up with his fangs bared, ready to say something really scathing. When I didn't back off he seemed to realize I wouldn't go away until he gave me what I wanted. He let out a cheek-puffing sigh that blew some of my hair backwards and muttered, "I was afraid." 

"Of Da...Dai-ma-ou?" It would take me awhile to get those syllables right. I must have a horribly annoying American accent. "Why?" 

Piccolo glared down at me, his eyes like two black diamonds. "He and I are the same person. I'm but a shadow of my former self, but I knew exactly what he was thinking when he thought it." He kept talking even though my head lowered and I interested myself in the folds on his leggings. "I'm still capable of terrible things, Cyndi. That demon always lives deep within me, gnawing at my consciousness at every available chance. He knew that. When I saw him, I saw only myself." 

I jerked up and covered his mouth with both hands. "You're NOT that person anymore! Don't you _ever_ say that! You did a complete one-eighty." 

"And I can easily do another one. Void almost made me her puppet once - " 

"But I pulled you back. And I'll pull you back again if I have to." I fake-punched him in the chin, "She has no power over you if you have strong enough love in your heart." 

Piccolo's lips curled up at the corners. He caught my fist before I could fake-punch him again. "If your power level was as strong as your mind and heart, you'd be hard to beat." 

"It's why we make a good pair, Piccolo." I grinned in his face. "You got the power, I got the heart." 

"And on top of that we have Paikuhan and the Believers." 

"Exactly." I leaned forward. "We can't be -" a yawn interrupted me, "beat." 

"Hmph." Piccolo suddenly gave me a light shove and smirked, baring one fang. It didn't tilt as high as Daimaou's. "Get your cookie breath out of my face and go write or something. You're annoying." 

I fell down onto the computer chair and laughed, flipping my hair back. Turning around to face the computer again, I grinned and flapped my hands. "Aw, I love you too." 

"Mmmm...feh." He eyed me, "Why do you do that with your hands?" 

"Do what?" 

Piccolo indicated to me with his chin. I looked down and found I was flicking my fingers rapidly. It's something I do so often that I'm rarely aware of it. Whenever I get really stressed or excited, I flick and tap my index fingers against my thumbs. 

"Um...it's a stim, Piccolo. Something I used to suppress because everybody told me it didn't look 'normal' to everyday society." I met his eyes briefly. "I do it when I feel like I have too much energy. It's just such a habit I don't notice it when I do it. Does it bother you?" 

"You've been growing a lot of odd quirks lately, kid." He looked mildly amused. "You rock, you hum, you tap your fingers and you wag your tail." 

I just shrugged and faced the computer again. "It's still me, I dropped my act to the outside world. Screw them if they think my stims are weird, they're normal and natural to me. Maybe sometime I'll print out a paper I wrote about myself and see if it helps you understand how my mind works a little better." 

"I'll think about it." Cloth swished softly as Piccolo stood up. "Finish that chapter. I'm going to go train myself for a couple hours." 

"No problem." I twisted to look over my shoulder. "I'll meet you out there when I'm done." 

He glanced at me through the corner of his eye, nodded once and slipped out the door. I watched his cape swish around the corner and vanish. 

o 

Half an hour later, I finally finished the chapters I'd been working on for a few days. Writer's block sucks. I blame Lute, Daimaou and Doramu for breaking the block. Until they came I had nothing really eventful to write about. Just the usual wake up, pee, train, eat a lot, shower after getting smelly and train some more. 

I mainly needed to work on being able to just sit around in SSJ form. Like Goku and Gohan did during the Cell saga. I couldn't just power up and stay there. Super Saiyajin form takes up a LOT of energy. After you power down and the adrenalin rush ends, it's like being hit with an asteroid and then walking around with the asteroid stuck to your butt. Hehe, asteroid on your butt, that makes it an ass-teroid doesn't it? 

The mist stirred around me, jolting me from my obnoxious thoughts. 

Turbulent, disturbed. Not at all like the calm white film it should be. My stomach started twirling uneasily. 

I looked ahead to see Piccolo about thirty feet away, just standing there. He was in profile in relation to me and odd shadows danced across his handsome green face. His lips were parted and his eyes narrowed. A fog oozed from his eyes and formed a vague shape. Piccolo started talking to it in low tones that a person with normal ears wouldn't hear. 

Blessed sensitive ears. If it's quiet enough I can hear people talking in low tones from across a football field. That's not a lie. 

Dropping down under the mist, I army-crawled closer so I could hear and see them, trying to move with the disturbances in the mist. Neither noticed me. 

"Why are you bothering me now?" Piccolo's low, growling voice barely reached a whisper. "After all these years of being dormant, you show up now. Why?" 

The figure snickered. "In this place, your mind is an open book. You can not hide from yourself...you can not hide from me." 

"I wish you'd just get the hell out of my head and let me live my own life." 

"Your life is over." 

Piccolo said nothing. He lowered his head and bit his lower lip, his eyes dim. I've never seen Piccolo look so sad. It didn't even compare with the time when he let go of his old life and cried right in my arms. Daimaou seemed to be a huge source of his internal pain. Something he never told me and now I was finding out in the worst way possible. It was like it'd be if someone just off-handedly mentioning my mom died two years after her actual death. 

Good thing I'm close to my mom. 

Anyway, the misty form drifted closer to Piccolo, circling him. When I glimpsed its face I realized it was Daimaou. Not quite solid, but not quite formless either. How the HELL did he get back here! I thought Doramu dragged his ass to another universe! 

Daimaou whispered, "And they didn't even mourn you." 

He looked up. "She did." 

"She?" Daimaou arched a brow. "Oh...that puny excuse of a girl you seem so attached to." 

I wanted to scream, _Who the hell are you calling puny, you green asshole booger!_

"Shut up," Piccolo snapped. Around him the mist stirred more violently and I swear his eyes did too. It was weird, kind of like some of it was still literally attached to his face. "My personal relationships are none of your business." 

"She's weak. Her weakness will make you weak because you will always have to protect her." Daimaou drifted closer to Piccolo so they were practically nose to nose. He was becoming more solid as time went by. Now his upper body was pretty real, but his legs were still a drift of mist like a genie emerging from a bottle. 

Squeezing his eyes shut, Piccolo bore his teeth and turned his head. I could tell he was trying to will Daimaou away the same way I tried to stop thinking of Void. But once a person becomes real enough, they're sentient. They don't leave until _they_ want to or someone destroys them. 

"You're terrified of me." Daimaou was eye to eye with Piccolo. He enjoyed making him squirm! What an ass! 

I watched Piccolo hiss and jerk back. His muscles bulged. He blasted Daimaou with all his power, dispelling his form back into mist. Trust me, I sensed his power up as an explosion in my brain. He used such a huge blast that he sank to one knee afterward, his eyes drooping. 

Laughter. 

It could scrape the pavement off a sidewalk. 

"You can't destroy a part of yourself, son." Daimaou's legs formed and he touched down almost on top of me. I had to scoot away or risk being noticed. 

Piccolo attacked. Blindly. Panicked. Like an animal in a corner trying to escape its own skin. I kid you not when I say he was drooling and out of control. I've never seen Piccolo like this before. So...terrified. 

Daimaou knocked him down easily and kicked him square in the forehead. The scraping sound of toes hitting skull made me feel nauseated. 

I scooted back to the door, stood up and, using the bo, slammed it shut to make it look like I just arrived. 

"YOU!" I pointed a finger at Daimaou. "Get the FUCK out of here!" 

The evil Namek looked over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed. He threw his head back and burst out laughing all over again. "Or what?" 

The familiar warmth of my ki rippled the mist at my feet. Bringing my right hand palm-up in front of me, I allowed a small red sphere to congeal. When I shifted the bo in front of me, the red light danced off the blades. The bo seemed to vibrate in my hand. My ki almost burned my palm. Never tried this attack one-handed before. It was taking FOREVER to power up! 

Daimaou kicked Piccolo out of his path and started walking towards me. 

I panicked. 

"_Gekidoshinku!_" Out blasted the red lightning. My own ki burned my arm, the skin turning gross colors and healing as quickly as it was being scorched. Oh holy shit the pain almost knocked me out. Acid couldn't hurt worse than this. My vision swam in several shades of white and red. I started screaming. 

The asshole just stood there and let the attack hit him. It wasn't up to full power. Might as well slap a tank with a flyswatter for all the good it did. He somehow sucked the crimson lightning into his mouth and grinned at me, the charge dancing over his fangs and turning his eyes a weird shade of scarlet. 

My arm wanted to fall off. I had to give up the ki and clutched my pained skin protectively. The burning sensation dulled to a tingling sting like hairs being pulled out one at a time. 

"That was pathetic. I've seen insects with more power than you." He leaned over, nose to nose with me, and stared right into my eyes with his black ones. "Really, what do you hope to accomplish?" 

"I'm going to accomplish kicking your green ass." 

"You? Beat me? AHAHAHA! I'd like to see you try, wench!" Daimaou's eyes tilted. He laughed right in my face. That Namek can open his mouth wide enough to engulf my head! Move over, Steven Tyler, Daimaou just won the award for biggest mouth in the universe. 

Did I ever mention Daimaou's breath smells weirdly like apple cider? 

"Come on." He stood up straight and pounded his chest, "Right here. Impress me." 

I turned sideways, looking at the floor. Uttering silent prayers like I sometimes do when I think I'm about to be wiped out of existence. Then I twirled the bo above my head, twisted sideways and thrust just like Paikuhan taught me. Screaming at the top of my lungs as I lunged with all my power. 

The bo stopped as if it hit a brick wall. I opened my eyes. Daimaou was holding the blade. 

Suddenly the bo vibrated in my hands. Harder and harder. Faster and faster. The blades themselves sang like a tuning fork. A blue glow started in the sapphire on the hilt and spread over the entire bo. The metal blades got searing hot and a weird energy wave zapped the living hell out of Daimaou. It literally engulfed him in blue-white light and flung him a good ten feet away. The second Daimaou hit the ground, the bo went back to normal. 

He climbed to his feet. His clothes were sizzling and the sigil was burned off his gi, but his hand took the worst damage. Smoke rose off his charred palm. When I looked at his hand I was reminded of one of my other role play characters. I didn't linger on him because I didn't want to call him in, but his hands are both horribly deformed. Mizmar, born in the Namek equivalent to medieval times, had his hands thrust into a lit forge as a kid. His hands are permanently scarred, lack all sensation other than pressure and VERY ugly...they're not even green, they're brownish yellow. Yeah, he's not a happy Namek at all. 

I just made one of Daimaou's hands look like both of Miz's. 

I quickly forced my mind to dance over several things. The mist that started to form a shape dissipated. I thought instead about the bo and how it attacked Daimaou almost by itself. What if it was alive? Could Di control it from his universe? Did I, in a moment of panic, somehow make it let out that blast? 

Daimaou hissed, grabbing my attention. Then came the smell of burnt flesh, it took its time to reach me. Oh my God, ew, it's the most rotten smell there is next to putrefying flesh. I gagged and tried to cover my nose. 

All humor had left Daimaou's face. His coal black eyes pricked red at the corners, I could see it from that far away. V-shaped wrinkles formed at the bridge of his pointy nose. "You _hurt_ me," he snarled, glaring pointedly at his hand. The mist around his legs curled like a slow-moving vortex. His voice dripped acidic malice, "You're the only person besides Goku who has _ever_ hurt me. And for that..." he closed his burned fist. The skin crackled like paper, "I'm going to destroy you." 

Time to get a big head. I couldn't let him know I didn't intentionally do that zappy thing with the bo just yet. 

"Yeah, now fuck off already!" I waved the bo threateningly at him. "Or should I use this thing to carve your asscrack all the way up your back?" 

Daimaou stepped towards me, but fell on one knee and hacked up a blood ball. Ew. Whatever came out of the bo, it REALLY hurt him. He shot me a poisonous glare filled with promises of torture and years of endless pain. Then he started to dissolve back into mist. Back into Piccolo, who was lying curled up in a ball on the ground with this weird look on his face. Like he couldn't decide whether he wanted to puke or scream. 

"Piccolo!" I put the bo down and raced to kneel at his side. "Hey! Are you okay? Piccolo?" 

Piccolo batted me away with a large hand. Sweat glistened on his face and neck. He wouldn't meet my eyes, keeping his head turned so all I saw was his turban and one beautifully pointed ear. "You weren't supposed to see that." 

"You need to stop thinking about him. He's going to drive you craz- " 

"Don't you think I TRIED!" 

"TRY HARDER!" A bit hurt, I crossed my arms. My tail wagged behind me a mile a minute. "I just saved your ass. You could at least tell me why you called him back." 

"I didn't." Piccolo's voice was just a velvety whisper. He unfurled to his graceful seven foot height, his cape settling against his back. It almost looked like part of the mist. "He haunts me. In this room he has no barrier to keep him from appearing. All I could do was keep him from becoming visible while you were around. My dream made him solid and now he tries to appear whenever he sees fit." 

"How come you don't manifest Kami or Nail?" 

"It's not the same thing. Even the stupid old man knows to guard himself so he doesn't solidify outside." 

I moved forward and pressed myself to his muscular back, wrapping my arms around to clasp my hands on his stomach. The muscles rippled under my hands like liquid metal. His clothes were damp and oozing scents of desert dust. He crossed his arms. I caught a brief odor that smelled like old salsa. 

Turning my head a bit, I willed myself to inhale it. Funny how I didn't find Piccolo's BO all that offensive. Actually it's kinda sexy. He doesn't stink, he just gets a little musty. Mmm. 

My hand followed my thought and wandered up and down over his perfect washboard abs. He tensed at my touch because I rubbed too light. He has a ticklish tummy. 

It didn't make him laugh. 

Seeing Piccolo so terrified reminded me that, under all the muscle, cold eyes, anger and iron control, he was just as frightened by the world as I am. He was afraid of himself, what he could do. Under my hands I felt him trembling. If he had a pulse I'm sure it would've been racing like a machine gun. 

"Piccolo," I tugged on his cape until he sat down. When he did, I curled myself into his lap and buried my head under his chin, careful to keep my spiky hair out of his face. "You're not that demon anymore. You're not. You're YOU. Don't listen to his bullshit." 

He said nothing. His sweat dripped into my hair. 

Okay, ew. I don't care if someone's a little damp from sweating, but I get a little grossed out if I touch someone when they're drenched in perspiration like he was. I don't care who it is. I'm just weird like that. 

I grabbed a corner of his cape and used it to mop off his face. Piccolo hates it when I mother him, but he really needed it then. He gave me that annoyed look little kids give their moms whenever they're pinned down to have snot wiped off their nose. 

"I'm..." he finally whispered, "...I don't know what I'll do if he influences me to hurt you." Then he met my eyes with a deadly seriousness. "Cyndi, listen to me." 

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like what you're about to say." 

He frowned. "Listen anyway." 

I nodded once. 

"If you have to destroy me to save yourself...don't hesitate." 

A small pain formed on my voicebox. I buried my face in his chest and beat his white mantle with my fists. The hard metal under the cloth stung my skin. "Dammit, you green ass! I'm not going to destroy you just because some fucked up demon is controlling your head! Don't you EVER ask me to do that!" 

"Cyndi. Hey, kid, look at me." Piccolo grabbed my shoulders. My shoulders are only fourteen inches across, his large hands practically swallowed them. He wouldn't continue until I looked up with a pair of tear-puffed eyes. "I'd never forgive myself if I hurt you because of him. He - " 

"I'd know you weren't yourself. I could forgive you." 

His face made him look incredibly young right then. I was glad he didn't inherit Daimaou's ugly cheekbones. 

Damn...that Namek is beautiful. 

I felt his hands tighten on my shoulders. "Cyndi, please." 

Piccolo saying _please_, that's something you don't hear every day. His eyes pleaded with me. He was so utterly and completely vulnerable. It scared me. Piccolo is my rock and suddenly he wasn't as solid as I remembered. Now he was the one about to crumble and I had to hold him together. 

"Why are you so afraid of hurting me?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer. 

He touched my hair. Silently. Gently. Like I'd break under too much pressure. 

"Say it out loud to me, Piccolo." I pressed my lips to his. "I want to hear you say it, even if you only say it just this once." 

"I..." Piccolo hooked a finger under my chin and tilted my head up, staring right into my eyes. What I was asking him to say was the hardest sentence I ever asked him to utter. 

_C'mon, Piccolo_, I reached up and grasped his wrist in both hands,_ just let me hear you say it one time. I'll never ask again. I promise_. 

"Because, Cyndi..." he winced, took a deep breath and kind of blurted it out as fast as he could, "I love you." 

I felt tears prick in the corners of my eyes. My insides felt warm and swollen. Oh...all you Believers out there...this is my happiest moment **_EVER!_**

We stared at each other for what seemed like eons. The words hung in the mist between us, finally out and free to the universe. In the end I realized he never really needed to say them, part of me had always known...but I just wanted to hear him say it. I needed to hear his sexy voice intone those three words. It made our feelings..._us_...real to my mind, which always seems to lag behind my heart. 

And then, suddenly, he smiled at me. A soft closed-mouth smile. "Do you enjoy embarrassing the hell out of me?" 

"Of course." I licked the end of his nose and buried my head under his chin again. He _hates_ having his nose licked. "It's my job." 

"You're fired." Piccolo, who had no idea he just did an awesome Donald Trump impression, pushed my hair out of his face and stood up. It naturally sent me tumbling to land upside down on his feet. 

Gravity sucks. 

"Enough of this mushy stuff," he said in a businesslike tone. "It's time to train." 

This time I was _really_ looking forward to it. When I walked over to pick up the bo, I had to flap my hands, finger flick and hum in attempt to dispel the rush of excess emotion running rampant through my body. Like having a gut full of champagne bubbles, I thought I'd burst if I didn't stim. I still couldn't stop the excited twitter in my stomach. Twitter...I was twitterpated! 

"_Helovesmeeee...helovesmeeee...helovesmeeeee..._" I sang aloud, not caring if it sounded childish. 

I picked the bo up in both hands. My tail was wagging so fast it fanned my hair and made waves in the mist behind my butt. A Saiyajin tail never gets tired no matter how hard you wag it. I decided to be silly. I poofed my tail as much as I could and wound it up under my right armpit so it coiled over my shoulder, trying to be a wannabe Sesshoumaru. Only problem is my tail is attached to me and Lord Fluffy's pelt isn't, so it kind of HURT when I lifted my arm too far. 

Okay, that didn't work. The coarse, brown fur was all scratchy on my neck. My tail went back to just wagging like a whip. 

I giggled and backflipped over to Piccolo, singing, "_He loves me!_" 

Then I backflipped OVER him. "_He loooooooves me!_" 

And I backflipped all around him. "_He LOVES meeeeeeee!_" 

Piccolo blushed deep indigo, not very amused at my antics. He looked like he wanted to crawl in a hole and disappear. I didn't care. He'd told me he loves me! Out loud! 

"_HE LOOOOOVESSSS M-_ GAH!" I choked when a hand caught my ankle and flung me into the ground. I was then lifted upside down until I found myself staring right into Piccolo's liquid black eyes. They were laughing, even though he wasn't. 

"Are you done, or are you going to waste all that energy acting like a ruptured kangaroo?" 

Ruptured kangaroo? Huh? 

A small snicker burst through my nose. Which made me snort really loud. "Mmhmm!" 

"Good." 

Clinging to his arm, I worked my ankle free and held on for dear life. I twisted my head around to peer at his face. Suddenly I just felt like being really obnoxious. "But Piccolo? I got one more thing to tell you first." 

He sighed, quickly losing patience with me. "Make it quick." 

I wrapped my legs around his elbow and farted on his hand. Loudly. 

"Stinkpalm!" 

"CYNDI!" Piccolo snarled and flung me a good hundred feet across the Quantum Room floor. While I was flying I saw him shaking his hand, trying to get the smell off. It was FUNNY until he growled and charged. 

Oops, I should think about running now, shouldn't I? 

Remember what the road runner's legs look like in those Loony Tunes cartoons? That's what my legs did. I hit the ground running full tilt. Head to head Piccolo could outrun me no problem. But when I had this big a lead? I was a fricken cheetah. 

Only problem? Cheetahs get tired very quickly. I could already feel the burn in my legs. I didn't run out of breath, but eventually the pain forced me to stop. 

"Guess what, kid?" Piccolo appeared right in my path and bitchslapped me. 

EEEEEW! He used his stinky hand! 


	13. Part Thirteen

Self insertion, language and GRAPHIC violence warning. 

If you're munching on something, finish it before you start reading. Trust me, you do NOT want to be like the poor people who made the mistake of eating spaghetti or chili while watching _Alien_. 

Believe Again   
Part Thirteen 

Sometimes, Saiyajin hair really sucks. Trying to brush it with anything but a frigging wire brush is almost impossible. It's like having a head full of soft pine needles. That may explain why real Saiyajins have such messy, poofy hair - they don't bother to brush it. It's HELL to take care of if you want to keep it somewhat presentable. 

And every once in awhile I DO like my hair in some form of order. 

"You could always cut it off and save yourself the trouble," said Piccolo from his perch on the bed. He'd been watching me struggle with the brush for almost an hour now. 

"It's worth the trouble!" I let go of the brush. It stayed lodged in the tangle like a koala clinging to a tree. "I'm not cutting my hair." 

He rolled his eyes. I rolled mine in reply and went back to picking at the stubborn tangle. It took some tugging, pulling and swearing, but I won. Hah, victory! 

...I guess the cave girl look suits me. Maybe I should leave it messy so I look more like a Saiyajin. Either way, it's going to end up a mess as soon as I lay down to sleep. Oh well. I kinda like ripping off the Goblin King's hairstyle. 

"So, Piccolo," I made my way back into the bedroom, dug in my backpack for a bottle of nail polish and perched beside him, "about what happened on the Quantum floor - " 

"Cyndi," he rumbled, "don't go there. I don't want to talk about him." 

My lower lip stuck out. I unscrewed the tiny bottle and started painting my toenails deep blue. "I wasn't going to talk about the asshole. I just wanted to ask if you really meant what you said after he left." 

Piccolo peered over his shoulder at me with those beautiful dark eyes of his. His stare forced me to look straight at him. Piccolo's eyeballs didn't flicker back and forth, but bore directly into mine. They held uncharacteristic softness. I'm never good at reading people's emotions through their eyes, I usually focus on lips. Peripherally I noticed his mouth wore neither smile nor sneer. 

I guess I got my answer. 

Then his eyes wandered down to my feet. He quirked a brow. "What are you doing?" 

"Uh...I'm painting my toenails." I showed him the bottle, "Midnight." 

His nose crinkled, "It smells revolting." 

I stuck my tongue out at him and went back to painting my toenails. 

"Why are you painting your toenails?" 

"Um...I feel like it, I guess." I finished my second foot and blew on my toenails to dry them faster. The tangy scent of nail polish hung like a haze around my head. I actually like the smell of the stuff, but I won't go around sniffing it to get stoned. 

Piccolo watched me the entire time. "You're strange." 

"Thank you." I said, blowing him a little kiss. 

Then I noticed he was barefoot. I grinned, leaned over and painted his big toenail blue. 

"HEY!" Piccolo wiped at his toe with the side of his hand. He ended up smearing blue streaks all over his foot, his hand and part of his pant leg. He growled and gave me a shove that almost knocked me off the bed. "Get out of here with your girly stuff." 

Embarrassing him can be so fun! 

I just do it because I love him. 

"Next time, I'll make it pink." 

"Next time you try," he was trying to scrape the drying blue streaks off his hand, "you'll be drinking it." 

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeew!" I ran across the room to paint my fingernails next. 

Piccolo merely shook his head. "Shouldn't you be writing?" 

"I will when I'm done with my fingernails." Of course, I ended up painting the area around my nails as well as the nails themselves. "Now be quiet, you're distracting me." 

He gave an aggravated sigh. "Females..." 

o 

Okay, okay, I admit it. I've been lazy about writing for the past few months. Why? TOO MUCH TRAINING! I swear, training with Piccolo is like boot camp twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. 

Right after Piccolo finished with me, Paikuhan liked to take me through more bo techniques. So I'm sure you'll pardon me for being too tired to scratch my butt when it itched. 

Being tired sucks. All I ever wanted to do was sleep, only to wake up feeling like I had a hangover. 

My sense of time distorted horribly. If I wasn't eating, sleeping or showering, I was training with the other two. They didn't go easy on me. Glad for that, but geez! I almost had to beg for bathroom breaks! 

And Piccolo...he started keeping to himself a lot more than usual. We hardly said two words to each other during our sessions. Afterward, he'd go off and meditate in the corner until the next "morning". I think Daimaou appeared to him more than he'd let on. That bastard. I don't know what he's up to, but he's messing with my Piccolo and that's a no-no around me. 

_Gaaah, enough thinking!_ I berated myself as I headed to the Quantum floor early to get warmed up. Maybe if I warmed up first, I'd be more loose and have a better chance at knocking Piccolo or Paikuhan down. 

It really wasn't different than any other day, aside from the fact that I arrived first for once. I began my stretches and did a few flips to shake the dull headache pressing against my brain. 

My thoughts rolled around my skull like marbles, mostly they centered on what I'll do to Void once Piccolo, Paikuhan and myself get out of this place. 

"Oh, how cute, you were thinking of _me_..." 

My brain ground to a halt. I knew that guttural voice anywhere. 

I didn't turn around. "So?" 

Metallic footsteps approached, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Void's presence always casts an eerie chill over the surrounding area. Hate bled off her like a bad odor. I felt the weird displacement of air when she stopped behind me. Everything inside me focused on not showing fear. But my bones were shaking. 

She snickered. "Face me...or are you scared?" 

"I'll do whatever the hell I want, Void." I stuffed my hands into my pockets. The ground under my feet sure looked interesting. "Why are you here?" 

"Big words for a shrimp." With that, Void let the tip of her stinger hit the floor with a resonating PING! 

The sound shot through my ears like knives. I tightened my shoulders. 

"I learned something interesting about autistic people," Void said casually, dragging her tail across the floor near my feet. Imagine nails on a chalkboard, but twice as loud. "...they have sensitive ears. Certain frequencies can be..." PING! "...painful." 

I gritted my teeth. After a few pings I started seeing the sound as a distortion in my peripheral vision. 

She was right. I hear everything four times louder than most people...kind of like Namekian hearing. I can't stand loud voices, fire alarms, whistles, keys jingling, coins falling, microphone feedback or any sudden high-pitched sounds. The buzz in fluorescent lights drives me nuts. I can hear the tiny oscillator inside a TV set, it's kind of like a cricket on fast forward without breaks in the middle. 

"So it IS true. You should see your face! The pain in your eyes is fantastic to watch!" 

PING! 

I felt my jaw tighten. Void may as well impale my head with her stinger. It sure seemed like she was shoving it in one ear and out the other. She knew it hurt. She'd found one of my physical weaknesses. 

Where the hell did she learn this anyway? 

Her tail continued its torturous cadence. I thought my head would split in half. My eyesight fragmented like a kaleidoscope until nothing I saw made sense. Then my clothes felt too scratchy and the earthy smell of the mist too potent. Even the aftertaste of toothpaste grated on my nerves. I didn't know what to focus on because it was all hitting me at once. 

A sensation of terror trickled down my spine. The same kind of terror that sends a mouse scurrying when it smells a cat. The same kind of terror that scatters birds when a hawk passes overhead. The same, instinctive, animalistic self-preservation terror that kept my ancient ancestors from being eaten by saber-toothed tigers. 

PING! 

I beat the palm of my hand repeatedly against my forehead. Nothing to bang my head on except my own hand. From the outside, my acting like Dustin Hoffman when the smoke alarm went off in _Rainman_ may look funny, but it's not funny to me. Not funny at all. I was in _pain_. 

PING! 

I staggered a step away from Void. 

Escape, escape! 

PING! 

White hot pain. 

Pain in my head. 

My fingers. 

My teeth. 

My toes. 

My body felt through my ears. 

She'd put me into sensory overload. She put me into sensory fucking overload... 

I screamed, spun around and flung myself straight at Void's tail. There was no rhyme or reason to my attack. I became an animal, howling, biting, scratching and flailing in attempt to make her STOP PINGING HER TAIL! I didn't care about anything other than making her stop! 

Agony blasted my senses. Deep stabbing pain all over! I'd been hurt, but I couldn't tell you where. Touching me is the worst possible thing to do when I get like this, and Void just did _something painful_. Maybe she pricked my finger with a pin. Or maybe she pulled off my legs. I honestly didn't know. The pain was all over my body like a cocoon. I wanted to get away from it. 

Escape, escape... 

I arched blindly against the source of discomfort. 

Void laughed at me. Her laughter added another layer to my torture. 

I hit the ground. Rose up. Hit again. Again. And again. I couldn't even register what happened because I was still in a full out tantrum. Coppery blood rolled unpleasantly over my tongue and down my chin. 

"Isn't the pain beautiful? Does it make you _hate_ me even more?" Void slammed me into the floor. She dragged her claws across the ground on either side of my head. "Describe your agony to me." 

I stuck my fingers in my ears and screamed bloody murder. 

More laughter. 

Then all became silent and slowly, one sense at a time, I came back to myself. I could distinguish Void from the surrounding mist when, before, she'd just been a dark, distorted shape in a shattered mirror. She was standing over me in the blackness, mouth cocked in a grotesque smile. Her eyes carried promises of pain and despair. 

"Tell me if you recognize this." She said. 

Next thing I knew, I got flung high up in the air. A massive hand caught me by the throat. Weird pain shot through my stomach. Like diarrhea cramps, but localized right under my breastbone. I managed to glance down and saw all thirty-something feet of my own intestines dangling from a hole in my gut. They just hung there, a huge red and pink loop that piled up on the ground like dog poop. 

Good thing I'm already dead. 

Logic reminded me that being gutted couldn't kill me. 

But I have to say...**_IT REALLY HURTS LIKE A BITCH!_**

"Oh, gross..." I moaned as the dull pain added to the aching of being slammed. I'd completely dissociated myself from...myself. I still felt the pain, but it came from the belly of some pretend person far away from me. Maybe I was in shock. Maybe my mind shut down to protect itself. Maybe I was dying a death beyond death. 

Void's taunts still rolled through my ears. They went in one and out the other. I just heard her voice, not the words. My body still hung limp in her fist, my guts dangling like fish bait. I watched in morbid fascination as peristalsis worked its magic. 

All I could think about was how much I resembled Pazzi. 

_Paging Doctor Lecter_... 

And then I hit the ground, landing on my slimy viscera. Dully I turned over and tried to gather them up. Every time I touched them I felt dull pain swell through my body. I watched my guts spasm. Then I puked up a mix of blood and chyme. I felt so cold even though sweat covered my skin. This HAD to be a nightmare! 

Oh, I was so grossed out. I'll never look at hot dogs the same way ever again. 

Void loomed above me, laughing her armored ass off. 

Somebody screamed from the doorway. I tried to turn and look. My legs collapsed instead, so I ended up sitting in a crumpled heap. I didn't cry out or moan or grimace. Rocking back and forth caused dull pain, which helped me remember that I still had a body. I looked straight ahead so I didn't have to stare at my digestive tract. 

Before I could blink, Void went flying and disappeared. Didn't know where, didn't care. My attention now went to my left hand. I held it sideways and watched myself wiggle my fingers. When I wiggled them just right they turned into a solid flesh-colored wedge. I lost myself in that image. It wasn't scary and it couldn't hurt me. 

A pair of black eyes locked with mine. Their owner spoke to me in a deep, raspy voice. I tried to wrap my brain around the face and voice, but I couldn't think. I wouldn't think. 

Red eyes joined the black ones. 

Voices were calling my name. Was that my name? 

I chose not to hear them. I'd shut my mind down. 

The last thing I remember is having my guts shoved back in and being carried off the floor. I was still staring at my fingers. 

o 

A soft, low voice drifted through my consciousness. "C'mon kid, talk to me..." but when I didn't answer, it continued, "she's never been like this before." 

"Can't say I know what to do either," answered a second, smoother voice. "Yelling didn't work. Should we just wait?" 

"I don't know." 

Their voices hurt my ears. 

"Shut up! I can hear you and it hurts!" I didn't care how childish I sounded, just so long as they stopped talking! I scrunched myself tighter against the bed. 

"Cyndi," Piccolo sounded like he was struggling not to sound threatening, "do you want to -" 

Yes, yes I wanted to talk about it so bad. I wanted to recount the whole story in disgusting detail. If I did, I'd end up repeating myself over and over just to make sure it was real. Then they'd get annoyed and tell me they didn't want to hear it anymore. Always happens like that. 

I didn't want Piccolo and Paikuhan annoyed with me. 

I wanted to go home, say screw it all and go back to my life of roleplaying, but I didn't want you Believers out there to hate me for being a quitter. 

Besides, I got enough of that crap in school. 

Dear God, I'm turning into an angsty Sue. I feel like everybody's judging every word I say or write. It's the most annoying feeling in the world. 

"Please, can I just be alone for awhile?" 

Piccolo pursed his lips. He crossed his strong arms and began, "Are you -" 

"Piccolo," Paikuhan kept his voice politely quiet. I saw him settle a hand on Piccolo's shoulder, but didn't bother to look past the square green fingers. "she wants to be alone. Let's respect her wishes." 

The next sound I heard was the door clicking. Alone at last, I crawled out of bed and pulled up my shirt. I still had a line stretching from my sternum to below the line of my shorts. So it was real and not a hallucination. Void did gut me like Pazzi in _Hannibal_. 

Ugh, I felt so gross. 

I wonder if the "too much info" community on Livejournal would believe me. It's a pretty gross story. 

Wincing as if every next step would be agony, I made my way to the computer, sat down and started to write. I had to tell someone and knew a computer couldn't get annoyed with me for repeating myself. From my fingers to the screen, the horrid scene replayed itself all over again. 

I know what Void is doing. She's trying to make me too afraid to use the Quantum floor. 

You know what? It worked. I'll never again step out there alone for as long as I'm here. 

And for a long time I was afraid to go out there at all. 

o 

Tapered green hands dragged me down the corridor. I had my heels planted in the floor. A lot of good that did, the soles of my shoes just squeaked on the marble. Imagine a mouse trying not to be dragged by a truck. "No! No, I'm NOT going out there! Her ugly ass could come back and then what?" 

"Void won't come back unless you think her into being. C'mon, kid, we're not going to leave you out there alone." 

"NO! NO! Fuck that!" I pulled a hand loose and grabbed the edge of a pillar. "She might get you! Or Paikuhan!" I wrenched my other hand free and ran back towards the bedroom. 

Piccolo wrapped both arms around my waist and lifted me like a feather. I kicked my feet helplessly, grabbing onto anything I could to stop him from taking me away. I managed to plant my arms and legs in the doorway like an anchor. Piccolo tried to pull me backwards. I dug in more. The doorframe cracked audibly and bits of dark paint pattered to the ground. 

"Listen. If you don't think of Void, she can't hurt you out there." 

"That's the point!" I screamed, "I can't go out there without wondering where she'll attack from! She knew what she was doing and she did a damn good job! Do you WANT her barging in on us every time we try to train?" 

With the kind of grace only Piccolo possessed, he shifted me to one arm and used the other to unlock my right leg. I put it right back when he let go to grab my arm. So he moved his hand down to a really embarrassing place and moved my leg by its base. There I was, suspended in the air by Piccolo's hand on my crotch. His hand is like a saddle, it's huge! 

"Now," he whispered, once he'd yanked me free. "We are going to train." 

"Can't we just forget it and have wild sex instead?" I blurted without thinking. I started telling him exactly why it was okay to lack male parts because his fingers and tongue were a good substitute. 

At that, Piccolo's eyes grew to the size of planets. He turned ten shades of purple. "I don't know what the hell a 'clitoris' is, but I sure as hell don't want to flick it with my tongue!" 

"Why not? I'd suck on your d- " 

He promptly let go of my crotch and wrapped his arm around my waist, basically cutting off my air so I'd shut up. It worked, I couldn't breathe to talk. 

I looked up when he started walking. My mind clicked. "You're still making me go out there? You're sick, you know that?" 

He smirked, revealing one fang. "The only way to get past a fear is to face it, kid." 

"You say that when you don't even want to look at Daimaou." I did a better job of pronouncing his name that time. "The hypocrisy cracks me up." 

Dark eyes bore into mine, fierce with angry determination. "I'm done running if you are." 

You'd think he just asked me to walk through a wall of fire without worrying about getting burned. I swear if I had a heartbeat then, it would've been pounding in my throat. 

For the first time in my life, I honestly didn't think I could live up to what Piccolo expected of me. I love him with all my heart and soul and would do anything he wanted me to...but deep down, I had a gnawing feeling that I was going to seriously disappoint him. 

And that hurt worse than being gutted. 


	14. Part Fourteen

The usual warnings apply. You know what they are. One extra I'd like to add is this chapter may be a trigger for anybody who is having or had experiences with physical abuse. I had to borrow the single experience of my own life where someone I trusted raised a hand to me. Never will happen again, but once is enough to stick in my mind and keep hurting.

Sorry for the long delay. Writer's block, my Sesshoumaru and Rin fic "The Last Day", roleplaying and severe self doubts kinda kept me away for awhile.

o

o

o

Believe Again   
Part Fourteen

o

o

o

If I had to feel bad for anybody in this whole mess, it was Paikuhan. Seriously. Piccolo got so rough that Paikuhan became the referee that pulled us apart when we got too crazy in our spars. Let me tell you, it can't be fun having to drag a scrawny little SSJ and a huge Namek apart no matter what the reason. More often than not, he ended up getting punched, kicked or dragged into the battle. Despite that, Paikuhan was pretty good at separating us. I should hope so, considering he beat major ass in Hell without breaking a sweat.

See, what kept happening was Piccolo would punch me back to the present each time I showed the slightest lapse in attention. My stupid mind kept fluttering off every time I stopped moving. That meant Piccolo had to punch me in the stomach, my barely-healed stomach, every few minutes.

A bludgeon slammed me into the ground. I sat up, rubbing my jaw. "Hey!"

Piccolo stood over me in the mist with almost no expression on his face. The vein on his forehead betrayed his anger. He said, "I told you not to let yourself think. Just act. Save the thinking for before and after the battle."

"Give the poor girl a break." Paikuhan walked up from the side. He'd long since tossed aside his weighted robe and hat. "Maybe you need to sit down and take a break as well."

"I have no need for breaks. Who asked you, anyway?"

I slipped backwards on my butt to put distance between myself and Piccolo. He never used that tone before. It had a growling undertone that didn't sound anything like his normal, sexy rasp. His voice was always like velvet over steel, and that time I heard more steel than velvet.

Being dead tired is one thing, but being dead _and_ tired is ridiculous! I felt so exhausted that all I wanted to do was download some music off the super fast computer in my room and try to sleep. I mean, come on, even the best fighters in the universe need a little rest between spars and fights, right?

I growled, "Well I'm sorry if I'm not a frigging android who can go on and on and on without getting tired or needing a mental break! I thought you would understand that, Piccolo."

"Tch. Fine." He flipped his cape and turned away. "But when you come back, expect the beating to be twice as intense."

"I'm jumping for joy."

Piccolo growled at my back. "I don't appreciate the sarcasm right now."

What crawled up his ass and died?

I shot him the dirtiest look and stormed into my room, waving Paikuhan off so he wouldn't follow. Flipped the computer on, typed in a search and sat back with my arms crossed. I'd been listening to rock so much that I was getting a little tired of it. This computer gave me access to the same websites I visited at home. Great for wasting time while Piccolo wasn't around. My best time-waster, I think, was making a myspace right under his nose. Even named myself piccolofangirl there. Heh, if only he knew.

The MP3 search page loaded after a brief delay. I chose classical this time around and gave Mozart's _Requiem_ a try. The computer moved fast enough to let me download it all in one sitting. While I listened to it, I wrote. I had to catch up since I'm pathetically behind.

Writer's block and a ton of other distractions kept me away from writing for so long. It was hard to sit down and get back in the routine of writing. Plus the Mozart music was so cool that I stopped a lot to listen. My brain half-consciously digested the rhythms of each movement while I forced my finger flicking into something useful, like typing.

And something slashed across my thoughts.

Piccolo's ki aura had changed. I wasn't paying much attention to it since I rarely pay attention to friendly auras. Like the music, its rhythm and tone felt different. Like the difference between major and minor chords and eighth and sixteenth notes in music. Minor chords are a darker sound. The _Requiem_ is loaded with 'em.

But why would his ki go from "major" to "minor" and vibrate so differently? It used to be like a big kettle drum and now...I really don't know how to describe it. It's like someone hitting a drum harder and faster with cymbal crashes in between. I'm not talking about during a fight, I mean _all the time_. Even when he suppressed it I sensed the difference.

Maybe it's a reaction to being dead. But nobody complained about my aura feeling different.

Mm, the room smelled like a desert.

"What are you listening to, kid?"

I startled at the voice. Sometimes I hate how Piccolo can walk so quietly.

"Huh? Oh, Mozart. It's classical music, not rock."

He crossed his arms, scowling. "Is that why I can't understand a word they're saying?"

I had to laugh. He can be so naive! "They're singing in Latin, Piccolo. This is the kind of music I sing at church. Well not quite like this, but it's choral music. I think Mozart was as big in his time as some of the musical celebrities of today. Had to be if his music is still around hundreds of years after he died."

Piccolo's tense expression relaxed a little. "Tch. I guess it's all right. Better than some of the other crap you listen to all day long."

"Whatever." I faced forward to continue typing. Better if I sounded nonchalant while I asked the question rolling around in my mind. "Piccolo, has my aura changed at all since we came here?"

"It's gotten stronger." he said.

"Well duh, I know it's stronger. What I mean is has the feel of it changed?"

"No."

We fell silent after that. I sat there typing while Piccolo stood behind me like a statue. How he can stand perfectly still for such endless lengths of time is beyond me. Then I realized he was trying to read over my shoulder and moved so my spiky hair blocked his view of the screen.

I groaned when he came closer, confirming my suspicion. "Do you mind?"

"I don't like it when you hide things from me."

"I'm not hiding anything!" I covered the screen with both hands. "I just don't like people seeing some of my stuff before it's been tweaked and proofread. Plus it's really hard to concentrate with someone peeping over my shoulder."

"Oh, really? Then what's this about my aura?" Piccolo put his finger on the screen to point out the passage he spoke of.

I slapped his hand away and wiped off the gooey fingerprint he left behind. "It's different." I admitted. "What's going on with you? You're...you're bitchier than usual."

I swear his eyes lit on fire. "First Paikuhan and now you? Feh. I don't have to explain myself. In the meantime...you can take that part out of the story. It's not important."

"Hell no! I think it's pretty important." I got paranoid, saved the file and took out the disk.

Turns out my suspicion was right. Piccolo reached over and shut off the computer. Boy am I glad he doesn't realize the story is already on the disk and I could pick up right where I left off on another computer.

"Feh."

"What the hell was that for?" My eyes followed his hand from the tower to his side. Was I imagining things, or did his fingernails grow longer and sharper? I knew Piccolo's body as well as my own, even details like his nails. Usually he kept them to a quarter inch past his fingertips. Not now. They were least an inch long and resembled white daggers.

Piccolo replied simply, "You don't need to bring my aura up." He followed my eyes to his hand. "What now?"

"If it's not important, why make a big deal out of it, huh? And when's the last time you took care of those?"

His big fists closed so tight the tendons stood out in sharp relief under the green skin. I heard his knuckles crack. He sneered and crossed his arms. "What is it with you, Cyndi?"

Nothing pissed me off more than somebody who was clearly hiding something and refused to admit it. Had he said he didn't want to talk about it, I would've left him alone. But he didn't.

I might be a short shit, but the abrupt straightening of my spine made me feel taller than Piccolo. "What is it with me? I think I should be asking you that question, Piccolo. There's something you aren't telling me, and it's pissing me off. Just spill it already! If there's something going on I can help you with, let me try!"

He looked me square in the eye. "Nothing is wrong."

I sniffed. "It stinks in here. You know what that smell is, Piccolo? It's bullshit."

Piccolo's frown deepened. He quirked a lip and bared one fang. I was trying his patience. We both knew it.

He looked attractive like he always does while pissed off, but it's only sexy when his anger is directed at someone besides _me_. Then it goes from sexy to scary real fast. I wisely refrained from commenting on it.

We stood there staring each other down, neither willing to be the first to look away. I wanted to die again - I hate lengthy eye contact. Plus, Piccolo kept narrowing his eyes and relaxing them again. It was some silent signal that I didn't understand at all.

I got furious. Just exploded, flinging my fists up in the air. I felt myself slowly go super. My own aura made me squint because the room was previously dim. "Dammit, Piccolo! You used to actually _talk_ to me! Why clam up now?"

"I have nothing to say," came his cool reply. He looked down his pointy nose at me. Tambourine gave me that exact same look during his visit. That look that said, _you're beneath what I am, why do you waste your breath talking to me when you know I won't answer?_

My guts felt swollen and hot.

"What happened to the Piccolo who actually said he loved me?"

Still no reply, just that infuriating stare.

I snarled and stomped my feet. "_TALK!_"

God, I must have looked funny...or insane. Tiny little me screaming and stomping like a madwoman at a seven foot tall green man who didn't look at all impressed.

Piccolo snorted at my irate posturing. "Quit acting like a two year old."

Ooh! That did it!

"You bastard!" I ran at him with my hands up and grabbed the front of his shirt, trying to yank his face down to my level. "I can't help the way I am! You're the one that's being a total ass- "

WHAM!

The world flipped. I bounced off the wall and landed on the floor. Plaster and paint that fell with me, I heard it crumble. My body left a six-inch dent in the wall. Might have been deeper if I weighed more.

Piccolo still stood over me, frozen, his right hand raised. HUGE hunks of my hair and skin clung to his sharp nails. The hairs went limp and faded to brown without my power to supply them. Piccolo stared down at me, his lips parted and his frown gone. He appeared shocked. Horrified.

My scalp stung. I touched the side of my head in disbelief and felt four long slashes extending out of my hairline. They didn't bleed, of course, but they burned all the way to my skull.

I loved Piccolo. I trusted that he would never, ever hurt me this way.

He'd _hit_ me.

Yes, he beat the hell out of me all the time during our spars. Sometimes he'd nail me from behind when I got snarky, but never once had he hit me out of anger or outside a training session.

Piccolo looked just as stupefied about it as I felt. It was like those last three seconds in a _Twilight Zone_ episode where the main character realizes the irony of their situation. I half expected to hear the theme song.

Any second now...

Silence.

No naked dolls or doors or eyeballs floated by. No spiral portals. No weird, deep voice lamenting about how the real girl and the anime Namek just crossed into _The Twilight Zone_.

There was a long, terrified stillness as my super aura drained away. I stared up at Piccolo. The rage in my gut became acid in my throat. I've never experienced such a searing, helpless feeling of betrayal until then. I knew before my eyes blurred that my face was turning that ugly color of red it always turns when I'm going to cry.

Piccolo stepped towards me. "C-Cyndi?"

"Get away from me. Getawaygetawaygetaway." I sat up.

He stopped.

With as much dignity as I could muster, I stood up and walked past Piccolo to sit on the bed. I stared at the floor, my hand covering the slashes. If I stared at the floor, I didn't have to look at him. The pain from the wounds was already gone, but the emotional hurt still ricocheted around my brain and made a beeline for my heart.

The mattress sagged as Piccolo sat down. "Cyndi," he said softly. He sounded like himself again, even his aura felt normal.

Still, I leaned away, half-growling, half-whimpering, "Don't touch me."

My mind was still stuck on that painful moment of impact. The look in his eyes, his snarling lips and his huge hand smashing across the side of my head. It all happened so fast that I hadn't had time to register the images until right then.

"I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to - "

"Shut up, Piccolo! Shut up! You _hit_ me!" I almost gagged on the flood of tears.

Piccolo looked down at the backs of his hands. I saw them in my peripheral vision. His nails were short again, but I didn't care about that little detail. All I could think of was this painful betrayal. My protector hurt me. The one person I could run to. I couldn't run to him this time because he was the source of pain I wanted to escape. Should I hug him or run away?

I sat there and cried. Tears, snot and drool poured out of me like a waterfall. Yeah, that must've been real attractive. Piccolo placed his hand, the same hand that slapped me before, lightly on my back. I didn't acknowledge it. I didn't want to acknowledge any part of the last ten minutes.

He kept talking, softly. "I thought you were going to attack me. It was a gut reaction...I did it by reflex."

I blubbered. "You should know more than anybody that I'd never hit you without a good reason. I'd punch a wall before I let myself punch you."

"If you saw yourself, you'd think different."

Was that a backhanded apology, or did he just say I caused this? It had to be my fault. I'm the one who ran at him like a cavewoman with a club in hand. "So I'm the stupid one here."

"Are you going to be okay?" Piccolo moved his hand off my back. The way he asked it sounded more like _will you stop crying, already?_

"Yeah." I lied through my teeth and stood up. "I have to go to the bathroom." And I left him sitting on the bed. I closed the door, turned on the sink and cried into a towel. I cried while I used the toilet and cried while I paced around the room. Every time I thought I'd stop, the memory hit me and the tears flooded anew. That stupid hot lump refused to dislodge itself from my heart. God, I hate this! I'm such a crybaby! Do I really have a right to cry about one smack when people get beat senseless by a loved one every day?

I managed to stop whimpering and scrubbed the evidence of crying off my face. The gashes Piccolo left behind weren't as big as they felt, but they were pretty deep. They were already healing over and in a few hours I'm pretty sure no trace of their presence would remain. I tried to fake a smile, but I don't fake expressions well. I'm pretty good at looking indifferent when I want to...that's about the limit to my "masking". So I plastered my best 'nothing' expression on my face and walked out of the bathroom.

Piccolo sat by the wall, his usual spot, and glanced up when I plopped back down at the computer. "Do me a favor."

"Yeah?" I tried not to notice the dent in the wall by the door. Hard to do, Piccolo was sitting right beneath it.

He didn't look at my face. "Let's forget this happened. I won't mention it again if you don't."

_Are you kidding me?_ He should've asked me to carry an elephant up Mt. Everest. I had a better chance of doing that than I did of forgetting what happened. Still, if it made him feel better, I guess I could fake it. But, like the line in Stevie Nicks' song, _Illume_...'_I can not pretend that the heartache falls away'_.

"Fine," I gushed fake enthusiasm all over my reply. Tones of voice I can imitate pretty good. I'm glad I was facing away from Piccolo, my expression would have betrayed me.

Uneasy quiet fell like the fallout of an atomic bomb. The blast was over, but its consequences would remain for a long time.

I had hell trying to fall asleep that night. I feared I'd dream about Piccolo doing much worse than a mere slap.

o

Clanging metal made me wince. I hooked Di's bo under Paikuhan's and wrenched it out of his hands. We watched it flip upwards into the darkness and clatter down somewhere in the mist. Usually Paikuhan disarmed me. This was the first time I managed to knock his bo away.

"YES!" I landed in a crouch and pumped my fist in the air. "I beat you!"

"Not quite." Paikuhan charged. "You removed my weapon, but I still have my arms and legs."

"Oh, crap!" I dove blindly aside. Not fast enough.

Paikuhan yanked the bo from my hands and pointed it at my throat. "You must never claim yourself victorious until your opponent is either dead or incapacitated. Many lose a battle because they celebrate too soon."

He had a point there. I glanced up at Piccolo to see whether he agreed, but of course he did. I looked away without saying anything. Lately I'd been kind of avoiding him. I mean this as in talking to him as little as possible, not going out of my way to get near him, that kind of stuff. Sometimes we happen to show up in one location at the same time.

My heart winced at the mere thought of his name. I fought the urge to cringe each time I glimpsed his hands. The right one, once so gentle, had caused me harm.

I never knew it was possible to hurt like this. I guess I was stupid to think that I'd be lucky and my relationship with Piccolo would be like shitting rainbows and Carebears every day. Now I began to think chewing glass was more appealing than having to say something to him. There were moments where I ached to hug him. I always lost the desire before I could raise my arms. Was I trying to punish him somehow by digging the guilt in deeper? Was he punishing me back by not asking how I felt? Did he even realize the pain he caused didn't vanish when the visible wounds did?

It feels like the grand canyon just opened between us. A huge, jagged gash. Will it heal, or is it going to fester?

"Cyndi?"

My eyes refocused on Paikuhan. He stood in front of me with his hands on his hips. I watched his eyes go from Piccolo to me and back.

He leaned over and whispered, "Is everything all right? You two seem more tense than usual."

Instantly I hung my head. Not far, but enough that my hair blocked my face. _Don't cry, dammit_. "Yeah, we're fine." Was my nose growing from all the fibs I've told in the past day? I just didn't have the courage to be honest. Not with Piccolo standing right there in hearing range. We both agreed not to talk about this, right? Well, I'm not going to go around betraying a promise I made to him no matter what. "I guess we're just really focused."

"I see. Well...you know where to find me if you need to talk." Paikuhan's arched brow suggested that he didn't entirely believe me. He straightened, sighed and patted my shoulder. Emaks aren't a very touchy-touchy race. A pat on the shoulder is their version of a hug. Embracing, he once told me, is only appropriate when a _married_ Emak couple is about to make love.

If only he knew how badly I wanted to talk. Somehow, I doubted that Paikuhan - who was so celibate he never even held hands with any woman besides his mother, spent much of his life in a monastery, didn't eat meat, had freaking PERIODS while he was alive and refrained from swearing or showing any anger - would know how to deal with relationship issues. Besides, I don't think he'd look good holding a clipboard and muttering "mmhmm, go on" while I blathered on about how much my life sucks right now.

Still, I did appreciate his concern. He'd let me know the avenue was open. It's just kinda hard for me to sit face to face and spill my guts to people I don't know well. Words exchanged over an instant messenger is one thing, you don't have to watch the face of whoever you're talking to. All you have are the words they put up on the screen. It's different in person.

The hardest part of this whole mess is seeing Piccolo fall off the pedestal he's been on since I first laid eyes on him. Will I ever be able to pick him up, dust him off, glue him together and put him back up there?

I guess only time will tell.


	15. Part Fifteen

Usual warnings apply. Careful, this tale is turning a bit dark.

I'm sorry for the terribly long delay. I want to feel this when I write it or I just can't and I guess the feeling is coming and going a lot. Lately I've been having serious doubts about my writing abilities when I compare myself to other writers in the DBZ fandom. It's scary. I'll always love Piccolo though and I'll do everything I can to finish this story. Even if that means it takes years, I'll work on it!

If you want to see what I've been up to, check out my profile. I don't just write DBZ now, I write Inuyasha, Power Rangers and Godzilla fanfiction as well, and lately plot bunnies for Godzilla have been chewing my brain to bits. Been working on a HUGE Godzilla collaboration fic with an author on this site whose alias is cii. I highly recommend her work. She writes in Godzilla, American Dragon: Jake Long and Halo.

o

o

o

_Believe Again_  
_Part Fifteen_

o

o

o

Energy surged out of me like Niagara falls and lit the place up like a tiny sun. My muscles were turning into balls of iron that crushed my internal organs. I probably gained ten pounds of sheer muscle. The mist swirled around me, from above I probably appeared to be standing in the center of a miniature hurricane. My golden hair kept blowing into my eyes. I pushed against my power until I thought I'd crap in my pants.

"It's not right!" I screamed at Piccolo, "I can't move!"

"Doesn't matter." Piccolo replied. He put a hand up to shield his eyes against the wind coming off me. "You made it to the second level."

The strain wore on me. If I didn't stop soon, I _was_ going to crap my pants. "Can I stop?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

I released my ki and fell over backwards. The white fog surged back in to cover me completely. It also shrouded Piccolo from view. I shut my eyes while wiping the sweat off my face. Over the past few days I stopped feeling uncomfortable around him. I wasn't constantly afraid he'd hit me again, but I hadn't fully forgiven him yet either.

"My endurance sucks."

"Actually," Piccolo reached down to help me up like a good green prince Charming should, "that was pretty good for your first try."

"Wish I knew how Gohan did it. It didn't seem any different than going super one, except he just went...well...went super while super." I touched my hair. Great, it was a mess again. "He made it look easy. I have no idea how Goku made it to three."

"Worry not about it."

I stared at him. That was awfully weird wording. "Eh?"

He raised a brow. "I said don't worry about it."

"No...you said 'worry not'." I said, crossing my arms.

"I said don't worry about it." Piccolo said evenly. Then he turned with a swish of his white cape and settled into the lotus position. "Go get some sleep. You've been awake for over twenty four hours."

"Um, okay." I eyed him when he sat down. For the past couple of days Piccolo seemed to switch into this weirdly formal speech, only to reply as he normally would when I asked him to repeat himself. He always insisted he hadn't used the formal talk. Didn't he remember doing it?

It bothered the hell out of me, yet the stubborn Namek insisted he was fine.

Piccolo also seemed way more withdrawn than normal. It took way more effort than normal to get even a grunt from him. My attempts to flirt with him were met with icy, red-rimmed glares that even I, who can't read eyes well, understood as 'get lost'.

"Are you coming to bed, too?"

He growled, "Not now! I want to meditate."

Cold shoulder yet again. I sighed, gave him his good night peck on the cheek and made my way to my bedchambers alone. Took a shower, ate and moped.

Honestly, I missed the old, somewhat talkative Piccolo. He made me feel as though we just met, only this time I knew nothing about him. When did we become such strangers to each other?

I spent an hour writing. Moped. Wrote for another hour. Moped some more. Went to bed. Woke up and moped even more than the most emo person on Earth. Quick, somebody cry me a river!

I found myself crushed under a terrifying thought. What if Piccolo was trying to distance himself from me because we'd never see each other again after this? What if he was trying to fix it so I'd never want to see him once we parted ways? I shook my head violently. No way! He parted with Gohan on good terms.

Could the room be making him crazy? Was something else affecting him?

Someone knocked on the door. I picked my head up off the table where I'd been resting it between bites of soggy Cheerios. "Yeah?"

"Hey." Paikuhan stuck his head in. "Piccolo didn't come in last night. I thought I'd make sure you were up in case he wanted you on the floor."

"Mm." I let my head thud back onto the table. I started wiggling my fingers to imaginary music. "Is it me, or has he gotten colder since he came in here? I've known him for awhile and he's never been this bad."

"Well..." he glanced over his shoulder and slid his narrow body all the way through the door, pushing it shut. "I've noticed he's become quieter and more reclusive since Void stabbed him. He spends much of his time meditating. A lot more than when we first entered this place."

"Has he talked weird to you?"

"Yes, I've noticed a change in his speech patterns. One moment he speaks like royalty and the next he's back to his old patterns. He doesn't seem aware of it when he does it."

"That's what I was afraid of." I said. "Something's wrong."

o

Something's wrong all right.

Paikuhan and I got back out onto the floor to find Piccolo still sitting where I left him the night before. He seemed...twitchy. No, really, he looked like he was crawling in his own skin. The mist swirled around him, disturbed, restless. The green of his flesh seemed paler and his veins stood out. He looked like a sculpture. I made a move towards him. Paikuhan blocked my path with his arm.

"Be careful. This doesn't feel right."

"I got it." I said. Then I walked around in front of Piccolo and put a hand on his shoulder. "Piccolo?"

"What?" Piccolo snapped. He was _covered_ in sweat. I could see it dripping down his temples. The dusty scent of his perspiration nearly overpowered my Saiyajin nose. Despite this his skin was cold.

"Are you okay? You've been out here for almost twelve hours."

He growled at me.

"What's going on with you? You're...changing. I'm worried!"

"Cyndi, t-take your concerns somewhere else." Piccolo's voice was like ice and the muscles in his jaws were rigid. As if he clenched his teeth so they wouldn't chatter. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You look like hell."

"Mind your own business."

I snarled at him. "No! Not until you pull that stick outta your ass!"

"You are taking your fate into your hands with this behavior." Suddenly, Piccolo opened his eyes to look at me. They were fiery red, but gradually cooled to black like molten, untempered metal being dipped in water. Equally red blood vessels stood out on the whites of his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in a year. I'm serious, he actually had bags under his eyes. His skin was definitely pale, especially his face.

"Piccolo..."

Piccolo jumped to his feet. "You know my past. You know how I was born. You know my fate."

"So?" I craned my neck to look up at him. "What's that supposed to mean? Quit talking like a damn Vorlon!"

But he didn't reply. Not even to question my _Babylon 5_ reference. He turned with a swish of his white cape and walked away. The darkness and mist seemed to swallow him whole. I was so intent on Piccolo that I barely noticed Paikuhan's thin form moving to stand beside me.

"He was born evil," I said. "He's...a reincarnation of his evil sire. He turned good. He turned _good_. He gave up that evil...he," I felt my throat clutch up and the inside of my nose itched like it always does when I'm close to crying, "he gave it up when he became Gohan's teacher." Then I sniffed, I didn't want to cry! I refused to be a crybaby!

Paikuhan drummed his fingers on his bicep. He looked at me through the corner of his eye. "Piccolo is reverting. He's fighting it...but it's happening."

"Reverting?"

The next words from his lips turned my blood cold. "To his old self. His past self."

I grabbed my hair and pulled it to stop myself from crying. Behind me, my tail lashed angrily and the jewelry I'd wrapped around it jangled loudly in the silence. "No!"

"Control your anger." Paikuhan said calmly, making me want to punch him. "We might have to fight him. I know you love him, Cyndi, but you may have to put those feelings aside if it comes down to a battle."

"Dammit! No, I won't do that!"

Paikuhan remained frustratingly calm. "I don't think you can stop what Void has started. You said she nearly took his soul into her stinger. It's highly possible that she sucked away most of the good in him. The evil energies that have laid dormant in him are moving to fill the space." he moved his hand through the mist, causing it to part and billow back into the rift, "Just like the mist billows back when you part it."

"So that means what?"

"He's being poisoned."

I swear to God, that Emak's poker face was starting to piss me off. "No way! No freaking way! Discord and I...we saved him! Di gave Piccolo his own energy, I saw it. I saw it, dammit! And Di ain't evil!"

"You bought him time, that's all. Think of the goodness in him as a scab over a wound, keeping it from bleeding. Void pulled the scab off when she attacked him. The healing Discord performed is like a bandage. If the wound is deep, the bandages eventually leak." Paikuhan said, "And this is a deep wound we're dealing with. It's as deep as his life is long."

I kinda liked how Paikuhan explained things in a way I could understand...even if he was a little patronizing at times. At the same time the explanation also scared the piss out of me. Was Piccolo turning back into Daimaou? My eyes watered just thinking about it. Piccolo..._my_ Piccolo...I could lose him.

Damn! And we still had to go down to Hell and deal with Void after training! I really wasn't looking forward to that.

Another errant thought made me start laughing. It was a bitter, painful laugh that swirled past a huge lump in my throat.

"God, this happens every time. It's like the repeating plots of the show." I guffawed while Paikuhan stared down at me like I just pulled a monkey out of my butt. "Every damn time...haha...something screws up the training and I have to deal with it before I go after Void. Ever damn time...it's so funny and so BAD."

I went from laughing to crying in a span of five seconds. Poor Paikuhan just kept staring at me. He looked like a fish. I almost burst out laughing again, but I was crying too hard. The thought of fighting Piccolo killed me inside. He could break me in half easily. I was afraid that he wouldn't even know me the next time I saw him. I didn't want our love to die.

"Cyndi, come on. Control yourself." Paikuhan knelt down. Despite his firm words, he spoke gently. "This is what Void likes to see. She thrives on causing mental anguish and tension. She's toying with you."

"Someone tell her to audition for a soap opera so she'll leave me alone!" I sobbed. "Let her terrorize Luke and Laura instead of me and Piccolo!"

He grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet. The gesture shocked me. Then, he got in my face, "Cyndi! Pull yourself together! Acting like this isn't going to help the situation. I understand that you're upset, but shedding tears won't change anything!"

I looked away.

"Don't let your fear win," Paikuhan hissed, giving me a shake. "The only way to stop Void is to face her and beat her. And if you have to go through Piccolo to do it, then that's how it has to be. There is a universe at stake here." He shook me again when I tried to pull away. "Piccolo would want you to destroy him if that's the only way."

"SHUT UP!"

"No!" he snapped, the sudden raise in his voice slapping into me like a hand.

I wasn't hearing this! I began to squirm in earnest and Paikuhan wrenched me against his chest, pinning me so I couldn't squirm. My cheek was pressed into the soft folds of his blue shirt. Behind it, his chest was like a rock. I fell into shocked silence. This was so unlike him. Usually Paikuhan maintained at least an arm's length between himself and whoever he spoke to. Being held tightly actually felt comforting. I always did prefer a firm embrace over a light one.

"Hear me," he said quietly, "Piccolo loves you. He may not show it well, but I see it in the way he looks at you when you aren't looking at him. He—often feels like he doesn't deserve your love."

_That_ certainly made me stop squirming. "W-what? Why?"

"Because of what's taking place right now."

I sniffed and wound up swallowing a waterfall of my own snot in the process. Gross.

"That idiot." I growled. "How could he doubt me like that?"

Paikuhan shrugged and I felt the movement of his pectorals against my cheek. For a second I forgot that it wasn't Piccolo, but the wiry hands that grasped my shoulders to scoot me back were a harsh reminder. I wiped my hair back and forced myself to look up at Paikuhan's face.

"I think I'm gonna go sleep for awhile."

"All right." he nodded his head. "Should I wake you later?"

I answered a bit dully, "No, the only things I'll want to wake up for are Armageddon or Piccolo's head between my legs."

Paikuhan's face turned bright red. I didn't have the energy to laugh, so I just waved a little and staggered into the living area. I flopped down on "my" bed and curled up in a ball. Sleep eluded me for a long time. I just laid there, listening to the silence. It's amazing how quiet a room is when you don't breathe or have a heartbeat.

_"WHY are you here?"_ Tambourine's sibilant hiss came back to haunt me. I jumped a little, startled to have that sentence pop into my mind. That creepy Namek! He was like a serpent lurking in the back of my mind.

_Why am I here? _I wondered. _Is it to save Piccolo? What if I have to destroy him to save...everything?_ I balled my fists up against the pillowcase. _This isn't fair! I HATE THIS!_

I berated myself until I fell asleep.

o

The light in this dim room never changed. I had no idea if it was morning or night. For all I know my sleep schedule is screwed up beyond repair. My first thought was Piccolo. He wasn't in the room with me. I bolted from my bed and out onto the Quantum floor. Honestly, I don't even know how I crossed that distance so fast. Paikuhan wasn't there anymore...he probably went to bed himself.

I could hear noises. Distant sounds of heavy breathing. I thought I heard Piccolo. I definitely heard Void, her voice is unmistakable. A guttural rasp.

Was Piccolo in trouble? I bolted off the steps and tore through the mist. It had risen higher and all I saw was swirling white all around me. The fog muffled everything. I couldn't call for Piccolo! He could be hurt somewhere! Desperate, I raised my ki and blasted a ten foot wide hole in the mist.

I found Piccolo and Void. Void was on top of Piccolo, holding him down. No...wait...he had ahold of her sides.

They were having _sex!_

"PICCOLO!"

I jerked upright in the darkness of the bedroom, my throat raw from screaming. Sweat slicked my bangs to my forehead. Rolling over, I sat on the edge of the bed with my head in my hands. I was shaking. It was a dream. Just a bad dream. Piccolo wouldn't do that to me...I don't think he even likes making love that much. Then again, neither do I. It feels great and all...but not as earth-shattering as people make it sound.

_Piccolo...you wouldn't_—

Somebody tapped my shoulder. I jumped and glanced over.

"Peekaboo!" Void's stinger rushed towards me.

"GAH!" I bolted off the bed(didn't I just do that?) and smacked into the far wall. There was no hole in my forehead. Void wasn't there.

The door burst open. Paikuhan rushed in, powered up, wild-eyed and wearing his blue sleeping robe. "What's going on?"

"Nightmare within a nightmare," I whimpered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I-I'm okay now. Did Piccolo come back at all?"

Paikuhan powered down. "Yes. He retired in the room next door-"

"He's back?" I leapt up, the nightmare forgotten. Piccolo was back. I had to see him!

Paikuhan moved to grab me, but I dodged under his arm. "Wait, Cyndi—"

Too late - I burst through the other door and saw Piccolo sitting in the lotus position directly across from me. The top of his turban and gi seemed almost black in the dark room. His face looked eerie in the shadows. He sat still as a stone statue with his hands folded in his lap. Sometimes he meditated like that. I thought nothing of it.

"Piccolo?"

Piccolo quirked his lip without opening his eyes. That's when I noticed something was very, _very_ wrong. I could see the tips of his fangs. His mouth was CLOSED...so that means they grew over an inch. The skin on his cheeks had sunk against his cheekbones, it wasn't the light like I previously thought. I glanced at his hands, those beautiful, slender hands. They looked strangely bony and his claws were a half inch longer. Exactly the length they'd been when he struck me a few days ago. Finally, he opened his eyes. They were bright crimson. Evil. Cold. Filled with madness.

"Piccolo _Daimaou_," he whispered. The wonderful voice I knew was gone, replaced by a steely rasp.

"P-Piccolo..." hot tears rushed to my eyes. I barely noticed Paikuhan coming up behind me. "No! Fight it, Piccolo! You're not your father!"

"Cyndi...come on." Paikuhan tried to goad me into leaving the room. But I wasn't going anywhere but into Piccolo's arms.

"Back off, Paikuhan!" I ran straight at Piccolo and threw myself into his lap, grabbing the front of his cape. Our faces were inches apart. I searched those unfamiliar red eyes for the big green Namek I knew and loved. All I saw were gleaming red irises. I touched his lips with my fingertips and for a moment, a split second, his eyes softened. Just as quickly they hardened again. Piccolo was still there, faintly. That gave me hope.

"Foolish little girl. Your silly notions of love and light have no effect," Piccolo whispered, still smirking. "You and those Believers should give up. The game is over."

"No! It's not over! I'll find a way to help you," I began to sob as I clutched at his gi. You'd think I was crying over him dying...in a way he did die again. "I know you can still hear me...I'm going to help you! I don't know how. I love you, Piccolo."

Then I kissed him.

Piccolo's hand snapped up like a rattlesnake strike. Grabbing a fist-full of my hair, he yanked my head back and slowly licked the tears off my cheeks. Those long fangs came millimeters from my eyes. I stiffened and waited for him to bite down and do something sick like eat my face.

"I love the taste of misery," he purred. Then he shoved me clear off his lap. "Your presence sickens me. Go."

I landed on my back against Paikuhan's bare feet. The next thing I knew was Paikuhan pulling me off the ground. I totally ignored him.

"You don't mean that!" I shouted at Piccolo, who only smirked back. Paikuhan dragged me from the room. I kept yelling, "You don't mean that!"

The door slammed, cutting me off from those scary red eyes.

"Let me go! I have to-"

"_STOP IT!_" Paikuhan roared. This time he was even louder than he was on the Quantum floor. And it worked, I was shocked into silence. He put me down, took his hands away and straightened up. "I'm sorry...I hate to yell, but," he softened. "I tried to warn you. He...won't be training with us anymore. Not while he's like this."

I flailed my arms, "He's still there. I touched his lips and the Piccolo I love tried to respond. He's still there, Paikuhan!"

His eye ridges went up at this. He crossed his arms and his dark red eyes glanced at the door. Then he twisted his big lips to the side and said, "Then there is still hope."

"Still hope?" I leapt up and practically got in Paikuhan's face. "Tell me! I need to know!"

Paikuhan gestured to the hall with his left hand. "We'll discuss it in my quarters."


End file.
